3 Takeaways from the Brooklyn Nets dramatic win over 76ers

Winning and losing seem interchangeable joys among Nets fans, depending on your view, but it’s hard not to cheer after this one.

Not too long ago, the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets were duking it out in the playoffs, each on the positive sides of lengthy rebuilds with captivating young talent at their helms. Also, Jared Dudley and JJ Redick were there.

But now, with each team hungover from their sprints at title contention, they’re spending their Saturday nights pondering whether or not they actually want to win the games that lie before them. At least a season like this was always the plan for the Nets though, right?

But while the mighty may have fallen, they’ve played on nonetheless. The Nets enjoyed their final game of the year against their old, now soul-less rival, winning by a 105-103 score thanks to Nic Claxton’s buzzer beater.

In what was supposed to be one of the association’s low-budget productions of the evening, we got a blockbuster finish. Ball-handling duties were tackled as a group, the defense again reined supreme, Joel Embiid got yammed on, and the City of Brotherly Love got some much-needed humbling after two weeks of Super Bowl fun. Here’s what else went down.

Killian Can Hang

Kicking one of the NBA’s most “down” teams this year isn’t the world’s biggest accomplishment. Nonetheless, the association’s trash is often the G-League’s treasure, and with Killian Hayes spending 99% of his time this year down there, him helping to lead Brooklyn to a win over a league team such as the 76ers deserves more applause.

Hayes, getting the start after playing in his first game in over a year earlier this week, only finished with three points after shooting 1-of-3 from the field but also compiled six assists while playing 27 minutes. He navigated the pick-and-roll well, pattering around like a seasoned quarterback in a collapsing pocket, and flashed some 20/20 court vision.

For a team that’s had nights looking nothing short of lost on offense without their lead guard, whether that’s Dennis Schröder or D’Angelo Russell, staying on course with Hayes was a pleasant surprise. Their 16 turnovers for the game weren’t pretty, but we’ve also seen worse.

Hayes wasn’t the reason Brooklyn won. Credit that to their intense, ball-pressuring defense and their collective selflessness at the other end — two things that’ve now become staples for this team coming around the All-Star corner. But in short, he played well as a facilitator, so hats off to that.

Shot Diet Continues to Evolve

Brooklyn’s love with the three-ball this year is well-documented, but of late, they’ve developed an open relationship with it, and last night moved beyond flirting with the paint.

With the Nets shooting a turbulent 7-of-28 from the field, scoring closer to the cylinder slowly but surely materialized as the only path capable of taking them to a win. Brooklyn bolted down it, outscoring Philly in the paint by a 60-50 margin. After spending the first four months of the season as a bottom-10 team in scoring there, they haven’t lost the battle of the paint now for nine straight games!

Usual suspects Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe pitched in with uber-efficient scoring nights. Clax added 16 points while shooting 7-of-11 from the field as Sharpe tallied 10 while going 5-of-6 from the field.

Trendon Watford also savvied his way to 16 points as well, scoring all but two of them in the paint. On one leg or not, that’s impressive when you do it against Joel Embiid in a drop coverage.

Whether or not the Nets keep this (and their winning) up over the next handful of games should be fun to watch. Of Brooklyn’s next three games, two feature teams ranking top five in opponent field goal percentage in the paint.

Renting to a Future Tenant?

While the Nets were down the Turnpike, their practice court still got some usage over the weekend. With the Duke Men’s basketball team playing Illinois at Madison Square Garden last night, they needed somewhere in the Big Apple to practice. Brooklyn gladly provided that.

Of course, everyone’s favorite Nets jersey photoshop model Cooper Flagg was there. Even though what Brooklyn did hours after the Duke practice would put more distance between he and the Nets, it didn’t stop everyone from acting exactly as you’d expect in the comments of the attached social media posts.

The affair seemed just much as tour of the facility as it was tune up before the big game. The Blue Devils at one point even got to check out the football helmets Jordi Fernández gave each player this year to help them symbolize and visualize their on-court progress.

There’s no need to make a mountain out of a molehill here, especially with the Nets suffocating their lottery odds once more last night. But…as someone merely observing things…it seems like the Duke program thinks highly of HSS and the Nets. They didn’t have to shoutout Brooklyn, but they did. That counts for something.

And we should note that the Dukies’ three first rounders are not the first prospects to enjoy the facilities and The Great Window. Texas and 6’6” shooting guard Tre Johnson were in earlier in the season as was Derik Queen, Maryland’s 6’10” big man. DQ apparently likes the view…