Brooklyn Nets. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Brooklyn Nets led most of the way, but were handed their 3rd straight loss late by the Philadelphia 76ers at Barclays Center in a stunner, 127-125.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Brooklyn Nets did everything Sunday night against the Philadelphia 76ers but finish.
Despite a season-high 38 points from D’Angelo Russell and despite Spencer Dinwiddie matching his career-high with 31 points, the Nets wilted down the stretch, as the Philadelphia 76ers outscored them 22-7 in the final 5:38 and took a 127-125 victory on Jimmy Butler‘s step-back 3-pointer with 0.4 second remaining.
It was as crushing a loss as the Nets (8-13) have taken this season — their third loss in a row overall and their second straight in a key stretch when they play seven of eight games at home.
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Brooklyn led by as much as 20 points in the first half, had a 19-point lead in the third quarter and led by 13 with 5:38 remaining before the 76ers (14-8) surged back to steal the win.
The Nets went ahead midway through the first quarter on a finger roll by Joe Harris and didn’t surrender the lead until J.J. Redick canned a 3-pointer from above the break with 1:03 remaining.
Brooklyn led twice in the final minute, but the 76ers got what would be the last shot and the last laugh.
Harris knocked down his only 3-pointer of the game with 48.8 seconds to go to put the Nets back on top 123-121, but Philadelphia grabbed the lead back when Joel Embiid completed an and-one after converting a nifty feed from Wilson Chandler with 38 seconds remaining.
Dinwiddie knocked down a pull-up jumper from 19 feet out to but the Nets back up one, 125-124, with 26.8 seconds to go, but Philadelphia was able to drain most of the rest of the clock.
Redick misfired on a long 2-pointer. The rebound hit the deck, as did Harris and Butler, who wrestled the ball away from Harris before being tied up by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. But Butler got the tip to Embiid and after a timeout, Butler got the ball with 10.2 seconds to go.
Hollis-Jefferson covered Butler as well as any defender could, but Butler knocked down the step-back 3 to put the Sixers up for good.
The Nets used their final timeout with 0.4 second left, but DeMarre Carroll‘s inbounds pass was intercepted by Ben Simmons to end the game.
Brooklyn didn’t play poorly in the fourth quarter, hitting 52.6 percent from the floor and canning 3-of-7 from 3-point range. But Philadelphia just did not miss in the final 12 minutes, or so it seemed. The 76ers were 14-for-18 from the floor and knocked down 5-of-6 from deep.
Butler scored 18 of his team-high 34 points in the fourth, going 7-for-7 with four 3-pointers, while also grabbing 12 rebounds and four steals. Embiid finished with 32 points, 12 boards and two blocks, while Ben Simmons had 13 points, nine assists, three steals and two blocks.
Russell finished 16-for-28 and hit 2-of-6 from 3-point range on his way to 38 points, while also adding eight assists. Dinwiddie was 11-for-15 and 4-of-5 from deep. Jarrett Allen posted his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
On the night, Brooklyn shot 56.8 percent (50-for-88) overall and was 10-for-25 (40 percent) from long range. They turned the ball over 16 times to just nine for Philadelphia, but the 76ers had only an 11-8 edge in points off miscues.
Led by Dinwiddie, the Brooklyn bench outscored Philadelphia’s 48-23.
The Nets were also burned by confusion at the scorer’s table late in the third quarter, where it was announced that Dinwiddie had committed his fourth personal foul and Ed Davis had been slapped with a technical foul with 14 seconds to go.
But that announcement had been reversed — Davis had been called for his fifth personal and Dinwiddie was T’d up. Coach Kenny Atkinson left Davis in the game to start the fourth quarter and he picked up his sixth foul just 20 seconds in.
As Embiid was beating up Allen down low with his size and strength advantage, it was a big loss for Brooklyn — as was the final outcome as the Nets fell to just 3-6 at home on the season.
Here are three takeaways from a tough loss to swallow.
