The Brooklyn Nets never seriously considered making a playoff run in June when they drafted five rookies in the first round, in August when they ate unplayable salary for future picks, and in November when they began sitting veterans to give younger players more developmental minutes.
Thursday night was the first time they acted like it. Neither Nic Claxton nor Noah Clowney played against the Hawks beyond the 4:43 mark of the third quarter, even with the game well within reach. Three two-way players logged 13 or more minutes.
It was only right that after that loss, the Nets were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention.
“It goes back to seeing guys that haven’t had a chance to play those minutes, because it gives me a better sense of who they are as players and what can I see as they develop,” Fernández said of the rotation.
This Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, home of “The Process, evaluation remained Brooklyn’s primary objective. The team didn’t let Claxton get any burn this time, ruling him out for “rest.” Drake Powell even sat for “left knee injury management.” Michael Porter Jr. did so as well with a right ankle sprain.
The Nets also went 10 deep in the first frame, giving minutes to several Long Island mainstays and even Malachi Smith, who the team announced had signed a 10-day contract three hours before tipoff. This is March!
The hosting Philadelphia 76ers? They were after a win, and with the Nets less interested, the game went about as you’d expect it. Philly jumped up to an 29-16 after the first quarter. V. J. Edgecombe punched in 10 early points to help get his team there and give the Nets one more lesson on the importance of boosting pick value. Less than halfway through the second quarter, after the Nets experienced a five minutes scoreless stretch, they led by 20+. Brooklyn didn’t break 30 points until there were 33 seconds left in the first half.
The Nets’ offensive issues were systemic, not the result of one or two players’ performance. Their starting five composed of Nolan Traoré, Terance Mann, Ziaire Williams, Noah Clowney, and Danny Wolf shot 6-20 from the field in the first half. The whole team shot 3-20 from beyond the arc. The Sixers simply threw them aside, and in more ways than one…
Watford getting chippy against his old team was far and away the most entertaining segment of the first half. The second had to be Chaney Johnson pitching in five first period points, seven rebounds, three steals, and a rejected a shot in 11 minutes. That’s a least a nice chapter within this rather bleak story.
In fairness, this was Brooklyn’s earliest game of season. Being the youngest team in the league, and perhaps still dealing with the aftereffects of daylight savings, they indeed looked like a bunch of tired students sleepwalking through first period.
And then .. as time passed, they slowly woke up — first with a stretch, then a yawn, and eventually something that looked like basketball.
The Nets matched their first half output in triples made less than five minutes into the third. Brooklyn managed to win the quarter by a singular point, and while Philly remained up 20+, much to Fernández’s appreciation, they continued to fight.
Brooklyn kept beating up on the rim in the fourth, but grabbed six offensive rebounds to finish with nine second chance points. As Philadelphia looked to coast to a win, the Nets rocked the boat as much as they could. A flurry of threes from Tyson Etienne and Danny Wolf combined with an 0-13 3-point shooting performance from Philadelphia in the second half allowed Brooklyn to cut it to five with 4:27 remaining.
None of the starters came in after that minus Traoré, and none of it mattered. After another triple from Etienne, Brooklyn hoisted a one point lead with 3:23 to go. Yes, this is the same team that trailed by as many as 28 earlier in the afternoon.
It was a hell of a scare, both for the Sixers and Tank FC, but nothing more. In the closing minutes, Philly found its way to the line a handful of times to slow things down and reestablish a lead. Quentin Grimes then commanded a mass exhale across the northeast corridor after rattling in a midrange jumper that made it a five point game with less than a minute to go. That was enough of a cushion to protect the win even as Brooklyn played the foul game.
Still, with 41 points in the fourth quarter, the Nets beat their entire scoring output for the first half by double digits. Between the numbers and the names in the box score, the comeback was an impressive as anything we’ve seen from Brooklyn this year.
Final: Philadelphia 76ers 104, Brooklyn Nets 97
E.J. Liddell scored a career-high 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting overall including 2-of-3 threes.Chaney Johnson set career highs with six points, 10 rebounds and three stealsTyson Etienne scored a season-high 11 points with three 3-pointers
The loss put the Nets back in a tie for third with the Wizards in Tankathon rankings, and if you measure by percentage points, the third spot is theirs. They are also two games back of the Pacers No. 1 and one game back of the Kings for No. 2. The teams with the three worst records have identical chances at the overall No. 1 pick, but the No. 3 pick can fall to No. 7 while the No. 1 pick can fall no lower than No. 5.
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The Nets will play the upstart Portland Trail Blazers for the first time this year on Monday. They’ll play them on the road again about a week later. This one tips off in the Barclays Center at 7:30 p.m. EST.