Nets Fall 112-104 to 76ers to Finish Season Series 1-3

In their first game back from the All-Star break the Nets fall to the 76ers 112-104 in overtime as they continue their playoff push for better seeding. They’re now 4-3 in the month of February, but have dropped three straight against Philly this season.

Brooklyn put up a good fight in this one, getting off to a strong start in the first half, especially led by their dominant second quarter. They outscored Philly 32-16. As a result, they went into halftime with a 10-point lead against the 76ers 52-42.

As you might imagine Philly fans were not happy about this, and have never been known to hide their emotions. Well tonight was no different. During this weak second period as it was clear that things were going downhill Head Coach Brett Brown called a timeout with 3:08 left, and as soon as the whistle blew the fans started unloading boos to let the 76ers know they weren’t pleased with their effort.

However the 76ers would get the last laugh as Brooklyn’s efficiency fell off in the second half, especially late in the game. It was like night and day. In the first half the Nets didn’t shoot lights out but they did well compared to what would follow.

In the first two periods they shot 39.1% from the field and 43.8% from behind the arc. In the second half they shot 36.7% FG and 21.4% 3FG. This was a direct result of Philly upping their defense after halftime, which laid the groundwork for the scoring run that they would go on. The 76ers outscored the Nets 26-25 in the fourth quarter to force overtime, and in overtime the Nets missed all seven of their shots, besides knocking one down at the charity stripe. Philly on the other hand scored nine points, and was led by Alec Burks, who scored five in the extra period. Burks was big for the 76ers in this matchup, scoring 19 points off of the bench in 30 minutes.

To further prove Brooklyn’s poor defense tonight they couldn’t even take advantage of the fact that Ben Simmons was out with lower back tightness. They let Joel Embiid get a double-double with 39 points and 16 rebounds. Tobias Harris also got a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The Nets had five players score in double digits, including DeAndre Jordan getting a double-double off of the bench with 14 points and 15 rebounds. However it wasn’t enough.