A tight battle between the Nets and the Sixers, but Nets couldn’t close in final minutes

March 28, 2017, marked the third of four meetings this season between the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers. Thus far, Philadelphia has gotten the better of the series by holding the Nets winless, 0-2. Brooklyn, having success in the month of March, is looking to continue their winning ways and notch their first win of the season against the 76ers. Nets shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick, who was out due to an injury, did return to the lineup tonight. Philadelphia has been bitten by the injury bug and travels to the Barclays Center with a significant portion of their roster unavailable to play.

The Nets offense has improved recently with the emphasis shifting to feeding Brook Lopez in the paint as the primary option as opposed to settling for shots beyond the arc. Lopez scored eight of the team’s first 13 points to start the game. The Nets struggled with fighting through 76ers’ screens and defending the three-point line. After a hot start, Philly’s shooting beyond the arc cooled otherwise it could have spelled big trouble for Brooklyn. Despite their early struggles, the Nets battled in the second quarter to overcome a seven-point deficit and tied the game with two minutes left in the half.

The second half of the game was a back and forth battle between the two teams. The pace of the game quickened and the Nets trailed by one point entering the last quarter of the game. Brooklyn had difficulty finishing at the basket but, victory was still within their reach. With just under 2:30 left in the game, a three-point basket by Isaiah Whitehead gave Brooklyn the lead. The crowd was alive, but unfortunately, the elation would be short-lived. Brooklyn went scoreless for the remainder of the game and fell to the 76ers, 106-101.

It wasn’t a particularly good shooting day for the hometown team.

On what made it difficult for his team to score, Nets point guard Jeremy Lin felt “like they (Philadelphia) did a good job of making Brook (Lopez) work late to get touches…. I had a lot of open shot tonight and I just have to make them. That’s on me.”

At this point in the season, fatigue may come into question.

However, Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson weighed in by saying “we look at it but we never use it as an excuse. I think we do a good enough job of managing our guys’ minutes.”