Brooklyn Nets lose grip on ball and game to Philadelphia 76ers, 113-98

Cam Johnson’s red hot shooting returned tonight. Brooklyn’s winning ways did not.

It was supposed to be the Brooklyn Nets’ turn to be warmed by the the Philadelphia 76ers dumpster fire tonight. But Jared McCain, extinguisher in hand, had other plans.

With injuries cropping up, secret meetings leaking, precarious podcast episodes dropping, and Joel Embiid playing sleuth, those flames were bright and abundant coming into the contest tonight. Frankly, it was all enough to make you forget that we were also getting Ben Simmons vs Philly in the process.

Well, almost enough.

Simmons was greeted the way he always is in the City of Brotherly Love, with boos following him like his shadow on a sunny day. At one moment they may have turned into giggles, but that’s all I’ll say about that.

But despite letting Philly come away with their third win of the season, Brooklyn had one very bright spot. For the third straight game, Cam Johnson exploded, finishing with 37 points and nine 3-pointers, tied for the third most in franchise history. It also capped off what’s now been the highest three-game stretch of his career. More about that later.

It looked bad early. The Sixers greeted the Nets with an 8-0 burst to begin the game. Brooklyn’s defensive start vs Philadelphia mirrored that of its previous one vs the Charlotte Hornets, as Philly also hurt the Nets early with the three-ball, starting the game 5 of-11 from deep.

But while the ends were similar to last game’s, the means were quite different. The Hornets generated many of their first half threes on Tuesday by taking advantage of Brooklyn’s sluggish movement around screens. The Sixers opted to use the fast break instead. The Nets committed five fist quarter turnovers that made it easy for Philly to get out and run, create space, and hit from just about anywhere.

That’s not to say the Nets were crisp on their rotations tonight by any means — at least not at a consistent rate. Late in the first and early in the second, the Nets looked equally disorganized and undisciplined as Philly continued to hit from beyond the arc, jetting out to a 46-33 lead with six to go until halftime.

But then in the second quarter’s latter half, more similarities to the Charlotte game arrived, only this time they were positives for Brooklyn.

Once again, the Nets took advantage of Cam Johnson’s scolding hot stroke. The swingman got his 37 points while shooting 14-of-21 from the field and 9-of-13 on triples. He was aggressive both in getting to his spots and pulling the trigger, at one point even from near-logo range … 33 feet to be precise…

His fourth one cut Brooklyn’s deficit to 51-41 with 2:37 to play in the second. He splashed another one with 33 seconds left to make it 50-53 at the break, capping off a 12-2 run.

“When you play with people like Ben and Schro they’re able to find you,” said Johnson postgame. “Just know that those looks are coming. You know, I tell you guys this all the time. You guys ask me this when I miss, when I make them, that’s just how it goes. There’ll be days I make them. There’ll be days I miss them. I’ll just keep shooting.”

Brooklyn had also shortened things up on the defensive end by that point. Turnovers were (for the moment) harder to come by for Philly. As a result, Brooklyn got to spend less time pitter pattering around the floor and more time making the strong, yet controlled closeouts we’ve grown more accustomed to seeing from them this year.

CJ was then joined by his namesake in the third — Cam Thomas. CT had been quiet in the first half but heated up toward the end of the second, then really hitting the gas after switching baskets. He scored eight points in the first three minutes of the second half. That, topped off with a triple from Dorian-Finney Smith and another one from Johnson gave the Nets a quick 64-55 lead.

But just when it started to look like Brooklyn might run away with it, their disregard for ball security came back to bite them. After taking that lead, the Nets would go on to turn it over six more times to close the third period, inviting the Sixers back into the game. They promptly accepted, storming back via an extended 24-13 run that made it a 79-77 game going into the fourth.

“The blitzed ball screens and handoffs and tried to junk it up there but man, that shouldn’t be a stop light for us,” Johnson said of Philly’s third quarter run. “It should be a transition into finding the reads and making plays out of those situations where we’re chomping that up. I really think that with the type of players we have we should be able to handle blitzing situations really, really well.”

Keeping up with the theme for the game, the Nets turned it over again in their first possession to open that final period, only for Cam Johnson to bang two triples right after. Those were his seventh and eighth of the night on nine tries at that point.

But the city synonymous with the phrase “I didn’t hear no bell” acted accordingly right after. Philly took that jab from Johnson, got up off the mat, and battled back with a handful of buckets from Caleb Martin, Reggie Jackson, and standout rookie Jared McCain, taking a 94-90 lead with just over five to play.

Brooklyn, on the contrary, had no answer, or at least not enough focus after that. More turnovers from Thomas, who finished with seven for the game, albeit seven assists, just couldn’t get a grip on the rock as the Nets tried to mount one more comeback. In fairness, Dennis Schröder did almost the exact same thing, dishing seven dimes but turning it over six times. Brooklyn collectively gave it up 19 times leading to 28 Sixer points

“Our turnovers were pretty bad,” said Fernández. “It was a lot of self inflicted…We have to be better. We have to find a way to respond especially on the road and we didn’t today. I mean, the team is always competing and today, their last punch, we just didn’t punch back.”

“Seven assists is a number that I like a lot,” Fernández then said of Thomas. “But not seven turnovers. He had far too many. Seven and three would be good. CT and Dennis had 13 combined. It’s not a good sign. Credit to them [the 76ers] cause that’s what they do, but again, when we prepare for games we tell the guys what they’re gonna face and see, and we didn’t execute very well.”

That, plus a few “don’t forget about me” shots from Tyrese Maxey allowed Philly to enjoy a 25-9 late in the fourth, eventually putting us to bed early on this Friday night.

Final: Philadelphia 76ers 113, Brooklyn Nets 98

Injury Report

Nic Claxton returned to the lineup after missing the past three games with a back sprain. Thomas returned as well, though after just missing one contest due to lower back tightness.

Absent was Day’Ron Sharpe once more, but the fourth year big who’s been nursing a hamstring strain did receive some positive news this week. The team issued a statement on Thursday stating that Sharpe is “progressing on schedule” with his rehab, has begun one-on-one workouts with coaches, and is expected to be integrated into team activities in the next 7-10 days.

NBA Cup standings watch

With tonight’s loss, the Nets fall to 1-2 in NBA Cup play. At the time of writing, that has them 1.5 games out of first place in their group, trailing the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, and 76ers, from the top in that order.

Each conference has three groups, and the winner of each group moves onto the knockout stage, followed by the next best two runner-up teams. With the Nets toward the bottom of their group and with just one game remaining against the Orlando Magic, who’s already waxed the Nets this year, it’s fair to say they likely won’t be moving onto the next round.

Next Up

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Brooklyn’s road trip takes them much further this time with a game in Sacramento next on their agenda. The Nets have lost five of their past six vs the Kings, who are 8-7 at the time of writing.

That’ll also be a homecoming for Jordi Fernández, who spent two years in Sactown before coming over to the Nets.

“I’ve known him for 17 years now. I’ve seen his growth. He’s an amazing person. He’s ready for anything, for any head coaching job in the NBA,” said Kings head coach Mike Brown of Fernández just prior to his hiring in Brooklyn. “He’s an amazing person, he’s got a beautiful amazing wife in Kelsey, and two beautiful kids. He’s ready for anything. He’s ready for any head job in the NBA. So whoever gets him would definitely be very, very lucky to have him as their head coach.”

• Boxscore: Philadelphia 76ers 113, Brooklyn Nets 98 – NBA – NBA
• Game Highlights: Philadelphia 76ers 113, Brooklyn Nets 98 (Video) – NBA