The 76ers look different from the team that swept the Nets out of the playoffs last spring, but in the teams’ first regular-season meeting since, the result ended up the same.
Joel Embiid and the Sixers used a back-breaking second-quarter surge Sunday afternoon to take a lead they never surrendered, dealing the Nets a 121-99 loss at Barclays Center in their ninth-consecutive win over Brooklyn.
The Nets led by three points with less than four minutes to go in the second quarter when Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP, rebounded his own miss, drew a foul on Nic Claxton, made the put-back and converted the free throw.
That three-point play began a 20-5 Philadelphia run to finish out the half, during which Embiid recorded seven points, two rebounds and an assist. The Nets missed seven consecutive shots at one point during the run, which 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey punctuated by making a contested three-pointer with a second remaining before halftime. Philadelphia led, 61-49, at the half.
Embiid, who entered Sunday averaging an NBA-best 31.9 points per game, finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. The 7-footer burned Brooklyn inside the paint and out of it. He finished a lay-up while drawing a foul — also against Claxton — on Philly’s first possession, and went on to sink several jumpers and an early three-pointer.
Maxey added 25 points and 10 assists for his fourth double-double of the season.
The Nets fell to 6-7 this season and a combined 0-4 against the 76ers, Celtics and Bucks, who are widely considered the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. Sunday’s loss was their most lopsided of the season.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, improved to 10-3, despite trading disgruntled 10-time All-Star — and former Nets guard — James Harden to the Clippers last month. That trade allowed the 23-year-old Maxey to become the Sixers’ starting point, a role he’s flourished in. The fourth-year guard began Sunday averaging 26.9 points and 6.8 assists per game in what’s been a breakout campaign.
The Nets went 0-8, including the playoffs, against the 76ers last season. They entered Sunday shorthanded, with starting point guard Ben Simmons (lower-back nerve impingement), leading scorer Cam Thomas (ankle sprain) and backup point guard Dennis Smith Jr. (lower back sprain) out with injuries.
With those absences, the Nets started Spencer Dinwiddie, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Claxton – the same opening lineup they used in all four losses in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs.
Bridges on Sunday traded baskets with Embiid throughout much of the first half, during which the Nets forward scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Bridges played with aggression and without hesitation. He drained a pair of corner three-pointers; passed up another deep attempt and zoomed past Embiid for a driving lay-up; made a smart baseline cut and received a precision pass from Dinwiddie for a dunk; and added a slick, step-back mid-range jumper.
The 27-year-old Bridges also limited Maxey to two first-quarter points, using his length to force the lightning-quick Sixers guard into tough shots early. But Bridges only scored two points in the second half on one shot attempt.
Lonnie Walker, meanwhile, scored a season-high 26 points off the bench to lead Brooklyn. Walker has scored at least 20 points two games in a row and in four of the last six.
Those efforts weren’t enough, however, to endure another game-altering run by an opponent to close out the first half. On Thursday, the Heat finished the second quarter on a 14-0 run, during which they also took a lead they never relinquished.
Brooklyn continues to miss Simmons, the tempo-pushing point guard it acquired from Philadelphia in the 2022 trade that sent Harden to the 76ers. The Nets scored at least 20 fast-break points in Simmons’ six games but failed to come close to that total in six of the seven without him, including Sunday, when they scored 14.
Their only game to thrive in transition without Simmons came Tuesday against the Magic, when the Nets turned a season-high 13 steals into a season-best 27 points of turnovers, leading to many of their 31 fast-break points.
Brooklyn lost the turnover battle, 15-4, on Sunday.
Up next for the Nets is a road game Wednesday in Atlanta. They follow that up with a five-game homestand, which includes a back-to-back next weekend with games against the Heat on Saturday and the Bulls on Sunday.
