Brooklyn Nets defeat Philadelphia 76ers on Nic Claxton’s buzzer-beater, 105-103

We were headed for overtime in the City of Brothery Love, and then Nic Claxton swooped down from the sky to vault Brooklyn above Philly in the Play-In race.

The only thing the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets had in common was their record.

Before facing off in Philly on Saturday night, each team was 20-35, tied (in the loss column) with the Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conference’s 10-seed, AKA the final Play-In Tournament spot.

That’s the wasteland of the NBA, modern wisdom dictates. Not good enough to win any sort of meaningful playoff game, not bad enough to find franchise-changing talent in the draft (or at least, much harder to).

So, a significant portion of each fanbase was rooting for a loss on Saturday night; maybe the teams have that in common too. A loss for the Sixers would likely mean one step closer to Joel Embiid getting the season-ending surgery he so clearly and desperately needs on his left knee, ending their charade of playoff contention. It also doesn’t hurt their case to tank that any pick outside the top-6 heads to Oklahoma City.

Brooklyn’s been fighting this battle all season, following a summer in which GM Sean Marks traded to re-acquire control of his team’s next two drafts. It’s a battle they’ve been losing, by winning games.

Saturday night’s contest existed, then, to serve as a reminder that Brooklyn’s problems aren’t so bad. It could always be worse, and in 2024-25, that means the Sixers.

Not breaking any news here, but they are absolutely miserable. Joel Embiid should not be playing basketball games, and yet, there he was on Saturday night, limping around the court and refusing/unable to contest Brooklyn’s many layups.

The Nets built a 17-point lead in the first half, though the Sixers cut it to 11 by the break. But Brooklyn did not do it with defense, as they’ve been doing for most of February. It was offense, despite a lack of 3-point shooing; the Nets shot a ridiculous 18-of-26 inside the arc in the first half. And everybody was involved…

Though Embiid had an excuse for his lack of energy, nobody behind him stepped up. Philadelphia fans may be the world’s most brutal, but they had a right to boo on Saturday, a right they freely exercised until the 76ers finally closed the gap late in the second half.

With Embiid on the bench, Brooklyn’s lack of 3-point shooting finally caught up to them, and chances to put Philly away for good careened off the side of the rim. Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre put up most of their points after the break, and Guerschon Yabusele gave Embiid a reason to sit for the entire fourth quarter.

A put-back dunk from Oubre with under four minutes left put Philly up three, and they appeared to be on their way to a win. Or more accurately, avoiding an embarrassing loss to a spunky but undermanned Nets team starting Killian Hayes at point guard.

On the next possession, Cam Johnson — previously 0-of-8 from deep — nailed a game-tying three. And Johnson deserved it; he had done everything but shoot the long ball in this one, scoring 23 points by living at the line, and creating good offense for his teammates…

Yet, with the game tied up in the dying seconds, Johnson didn’t have the ball in his hands. The rock belonged to Trendon Watford, and why wouldn’t it?

For the third straight game, he had come off the bench to bully mismatches both small (close friend Maxey) and big (Yabusele), en route to 16 points of 7-of-13 shooting and another batch of highlights….

Watford drove toward the middle, attracted help, and dished out to Keon Johnson who, with 11/4/4/3/1, already had played a solid game and was now looking to be the hero as he launched a contested 3-pointer.

From the broadcast, it looked off immediately, veering wide right. At least we’d get five more minutes of fun, whistle-less basketball between two teams caught in a spin-cycle of a year.

But we didn’t. Nic Claxton, who had just blocked his fifth shot of the night to keep the game tied, swooped in to collect his ninth rebound, and in one motion, tossed up a floater that rolled in for his 16th point of the night. Game over…

“That was my first game-winner, ever. It felt good, it really did feel like a movie. Seen the shot go up and just tried to make a play,” said a wide-eyed Claxton, not coming down just yet from the adrenaline rush.

Brooklyn’s bench went wild as Wells Fargo Arena went silent. They ran down to the opposite corner of the court and mobbed their starting center, Day’Ron Sharpe (10/7/1/2/1) included…

“Man, I’m so glad we ain’t have to go to overtime,” said Watford of his reaction. “Honestly, I ain’t know if I had it in me to play five more minutes, I ain’t gonna lie.”

Though the Nets did put up 40 points in the first quarter, it turned into a typical win for them. Their opponent had to fight and claw to reach 100 points, Watford led effective bench units, their centers played excellent ball for all 48 minutes, and nobody left the arena without a scratch.

Jordi Fernández was eager to point out his bigs postgame. “Defensively, having Nic and having Day’Ron, they’ve been good rim protectors. They’ve been great with their coverages, they’ve been the anchor of our defense, and I think that’s helped us, for sure, defend our paint, our rim … holding teams to 103 points in the NBA is pretty good, and especially this team with three super players.”

The result may hurt Brooklyn in the long-term. But since we’ll never know the alternate universe in which Claxton’s put-back rims out and the Nets lose in overtime, perhaps it’s better to enjoy the exhilarating victory over a division rival.

In any case, we don’t normally allow profanity on NetsDaily, but this one was best summed up by the man himself…

Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 105, Philadelphia 76ers 103

Milestone Watch

• Nic Claxton’s first-career game-winning shot!
• Trendon Watford scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, matching the highest-scoring quarter in his Nets career.
• Not only Brooklyn’s seventh win in nine tries, but their season-high-tying third straight road win.

Injury Update

Though Killian Hayes didn’t close the game, he was Brooklyn’s starting point guard in this one, as mentioned.

That’s because the ankle sprain D’Angelo Russell suffered on Thursday was no minor bruise, and pregame, Jordi Fernández confirmed he’d miss (at least) each game of Brooklyn’s short road trip.

The Cam Thomas front, however, was more positive…

Standings Watch

Not so long ago, this section was full of screenshots of the race to the bottom, or the top of the NBA Draft Lottery. Not anymore.

After Saturday’s victory…

• 10: Chicago Bulls, 22-35 (Play-In Tournament)
• 11: Brooklyn Nets, 21-35
• 12: Philadelphia 76ers, 20-36

Oh boy.

Next Up

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The Nets will have a chance to keep pace or even pass the Chicago Bulls in the standings with a win in their next game. And they travel to the nation’s capital to play the nine-win Washington Wizards. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on Monday evening.

• Boxscore: Brooklyn Nets 105, Philadelphia 76ers – NBA
• Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 105, Philadelphia 76ers (Video) – NBA
• Fantastic Finishes: 76ers vs Nets (Video) – NBA
• Nic Claxton and Trendon Watford on thrilling 105-103 win over 76ers (Video) – Meghan Triplett – YES Network
• Frank Isola breaks down the Nets’ impressive matchup vs. Philly (Video) – Nancy Newman & Frank Isola – YES Network
• Jordi Fernández gives his thoughts on the Nets’ buzzer-beater (Video) – YES Network
• Claxton scores winner at the horn to send Nets past 76ers 105-103– NBA
• Nic Claxton’s buzzer-beating putback propels Nets past 76ers – Brian Lewis – New York Post
• Nic Claxton beats the buzzer in Philadelphia to help Nets keep pace in Eastern Conference Play-In race – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News