Nets blow double-digit lead in Game 2 loss to 76ers

NBA

By Brian Lewis

April 17, 2023 | 10:09pm

PHILADELPHIA — The Nets played great defense on Joel Embiid, and were even better against James Harden.

And it still wasn’t enough.

The Nets were dominated on the glass.

They couldn’t buy a jumper when they needed one.

And when it was over they’d taken a 96-84 first-round Game 2 loss to the 76ers before a raucous sellout crowd of 20,958 at Wells Fargo Center on Monday night.

“The only adjustment made was that ball didn’t go into the hole for us. We got open looks, they tried to go zone, we had enough shooting out there: the ball just didn’t go in,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Harden, Embiid, kept them in check. Offensive rebounds from PJ [Tucker], kept that in check. Give credit to [Tyrese] Maxey — that’s the playoffs. Someone steps up and you hope that step up is on your end.”

Brooklyn went smallball to harass and harangue Embiid, and held him to 20 points — far under his league-leading 33.1 point per game.

And Mikal Bridges smothered Harden, the three-time scoring champ, to the tune of eight points on 3-for-13 shooting.

But Maxey stepped up with a game-high 33 to lead Philadelphia.

The Nets’ deficiency on the glass and poor shooting proved too much to overcome, dropping them in a 2-0 series hole coming home for Thursday’s Game 3 at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn shot just 37.5 percent overall and 13 of 42 from deep.

Leading by five at the half, the Nets struggled against the zone in a 24-14 third quarter that cost them.

“They just came out in the second half with zone, messed us up a little bit, but yeah, they just came out, had a little momentum, and ran with it a little bit from there,” said Bridges, who had 21 points, seven assists and five boards, facilitating more as he got doubled by the Sixers and shot just 6 of 15.

Cam Johnson led the Nets with 28, but just six in the second half.

“It wasn’t really a defensive issue as much as it was offensive,” Johnson said. “You’re playing against a set defense every time. They’re in that zone, slowed us down a bit. We only had 14 points in that third quarter. In playoff games like this, when they feel like they’re getting stops, that gives them juice. It’s all about trying to take that away, so we didn’t do a good enough job at that.”

Bridges’ free throw spotted Brooklyn to an early 17-11 lead.

But the Nets gave up 10 unanswered points, Embiid punishing them on the glass.

His tip-in put Philadelphia up 21-17 with 3:35 in the first.

The Nets still trailed 32-31 after a De’Anthony Melton 3-pointer off a Harden feed, but ripped off a 9-0 run of their own.

Johnson’s pull-up 3-pointer capped the spurt midway through the second quarter and brought out the Philadelphia boo-birds.

His running dunk padded their lead to 45-35 with 3:42 left in the half, and his nasty posterization of Embiid with 47.7 seconds left in the half stunned the crowd and put Brooklyn ahead 49-42.

“It don’t really mean that much. It’s just two points,” Johnson said. “I’m more concerned about wins than dunks.”

The Nets went into the half clinging to a five-point edge, but the Sixers stormed out of it with a 20-7 blitz to seize control.

Philadelphia sliced the lead to 51-49 after Tobias Harris (20 points) had a steal and breakaway dunk.

And Embiid’s layup knotted it with 9:40 left in the third before Bridges’ midrange jumper temporarily stemmed the tide.

But it was short-lived.

Harris had a dunk and then a putback put Philadelphia ahead 55-53, and the Nets never led again the rest of the night.

Harden’s 3-pointer — after a Sixers offensive rebound — made it 61-56, and Harris’ corner 3-pointer off an Embiid kick-out padded their cushion to 64-56 with 6:07 left in the third.

Brooklyn did attempt a comeback, a Spencer Dinwiddie and-one pulling them within 69-68 with 10:54 to play.

But they never got over the hump.

“That’s where you want someone to step up in that instance,” Vaughn said. “Would we have loved for Joe [Harris] to shoot eight 3s and make eight 3s? Yes, so then he could have been the guy. You’re just looking for in playoff time someone to make an impact if you’re going to try to take away their main two dudes.”