76ers blow it in the final seconds for 105-103 loss to Brooklyn

In a battle to try and get into the 10th seed, the red-hot Nets were just able to squeeze out a win against the Sixers.

These two teams going into the game could not be more opposite from each other as of late. Brooklyn has been one of the best teams in basketball in their last 9 games with their defense being among the best in the association. The Sixers, on the other hand, had lost 6 straight and 8 of their last 9.

The winner propelled themselves to just half a game behind Chicago for the 10th seed and the Play-In.

1st Quarter: Defense optional

Against a team not exactly known for its offensive firepower even on this winning streak, the 76ers had no answers for Brooklyn’s offense in the opening 12 minutes. The team with the 2nd lowest PPG in basketball dropped 40 points to open up play.

Impressive play from Cameron Johnson and Nic Claxton helped lead the way for their impressive start to the game. It was a very scary look for the Sixers’ defense, which has been far from their strong suit all season long. Not only did Brooklyn look unstoppable, but they were doing it without their best scorer Cam Thomas, and without D’Angelo Russell.

The Sixers on the offensive end held up well with 30 points of their own to keep the Nets in striking distance. Tyrese Maxey was lethal from distance banking 3 of his 4 attempts 3’s in the first quarter, a nice change from the Sixers’ 3-point shooting against Boston.

New Sixer Lonnie Walker IV struggled missing both of his attempts from behind the arch, which would become his only shots of the night.

2nd Quarter: Team defense has checked in

The good news for the Sixers is the defense was significantly better than their showing in the first quarter. The bad news is that the Nets defense also settled in very nicely.

The majority of the quarter was dominated by Brooklyn as they rode the momentum. More good play from Claxton along with some help from Ziaire Williams off the bench allowed Brooklyn to stretch the lead to 17 with a 60-43 score.

Fortunately for the Sixers, so good play from Maxey, Kelly Oubre, and Quentin Grimes down the stretch allowed them to cut it down to 63-52 going into the break. PG and Embiid each had good quarters with 5 and 6 points respectively. While the end of the 2nd quarter was positive for the Sixers, it was a very disappointing showing in the first half, especially since the Nets were as shorthanded as they were.

In a game that is absolutely pivotal if the team wanted to try and make the Play-In, the performance was unmotivated and flat. It’s made worse when you consider that Chicago will be in town on Monday, so if the 76ers could pull off the back-to-back wins they’d slide comfortably into the 10th seed.

3rd Quarter: Oubre holds things down

The Sixers kept Brooklyn in striking distance in the 3rd, carried by 8 key points from Kelly Oubre. The team started to garner some momentum as the quarter went on, including a crucial 14-4 run in the middle of the quarter. It started with an and-1 from Quentin Grimes and was capped off by Joel Embiid cutting Brookyln’s lead down to 7 with 3 minutes left in the quarter.

The defense continued to show signs of growth in the 3rd, holding Brooklyn to just 20. After 40 points in the first quarter, they had just scored 43 in the 2 quarters since then. The Sixers kept most of the Nets team in check offensively, the most notable performance coming from Day’Ron Sharpe who dropped 4 points while also snagging 4 rebounds in the 3rd quarter.

Admittedly I was optimistic. The defense had tightened up very well and the team looked like an entirely different unit than the one that faced Boston. If, and a big if, the team could build on this there could be reason to hope again.

I might be insane but win or lose the 2nd half of this game there have been major improvements to the problems that have been holding back the Sixers all year. If this is built off of this team could run the table in a weak East #MadeForThis

— Ethan Whitney (@Ethan_W6) February 23, 2025

4th Quarter: Heartbreak

The Sixers were able to claw into Brooklyn’s lead throughout the quarter setting us up for an entertaining ending. Quentin Grimes was able to even give the squad their first lead since the first quarter with a go-ahead three with 4:11 left in the game.

Brooklyn responded as they did, and the final 3-4 minutes was a battle with Maxey and Oubre leading the way with clutch buckets to keep the Sixers in it.

Maxey ties us up at 103-103 and Brooklyn, opting not to use their timeout, will have one chance to end it. Keon Johnson with a chance to end it misses. That’s got to mean overtime right? In Sixers fashion, Claxton makes an incredible play tipping the ball in with less than a second to go, winning the game for Brooklyn. Absolutely brutal.

Is this a cause worth saving anymore?

The 76ers are faced with a difficult decision right now. They are 20-36 and 1.5 games back of the 10 seed in a god-awful Eastern conference. If they were to lose to the Bulls on Monday, the team would need to get hot just to climb into the 10th seed. Asking a team that would be then 5-17 in their last 22 to get hot seems a little optimistic.

The other factor is that their pick conveys to OKC if it falls outside the top 6. In an incredible draft with a generational talent at the top, you don’t want to have 0 picks. There are 2 scenarios I see the rest of the season playing out.

The first is that the team does get hot and does sneak into the play-in tournament. This is the worst-case scenario. This either ends in a beat down by probably Atlanta, Brooklyn, or Chicago, or somehow someway they get the 8th seed and get swept by the Cavs.

The second is that they stay the course to try and capture the [Cooper] Flagg. This unfortunately is the best-case scenario. This brings into question shutting down Embiid and Paul George. Is it worth keeping them on the court when the definition of success is losing? In my opinion, let Embiid get his back surgery and PG gets surgery on his hand.

This season is a wash. 20-36 and the best case scenario right now is keeping your pick.

What’s next? Do Morey/Brand/Nurse survive this?

— Jake Rabadi (@JakeRabadiNFL) February 23, 2025

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