Philadelphia 76ers turned up the defensive heat in the second half and hands the Brooklyn Nets a back-to-back loss

Ouch! The Brooklyn Nets’ 117-111 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers must hurt, particularly since the Nets led through the first three quarters. But in the fourth, the 76ers turned up the defensive heat and took charge led by Ben Simmons and handed the Nets a back-to-back loss. The Nets are now 18-24 (six games under .500), while the 76ers improved to 29-16 on the season with the victory.

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on Philadelphia’s changes that affected the second half

“Obviously there are two big keys to this game,” responded Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “Give them a lot of credit for the first one, they turned us over a ton – 22 turnovers – and I thought they really hurt us on the glass. I think they ended up having 13 more shots than us, which is not going to work against a really good team. Turnovers and we didn’t rebound the ball like we need to. Credit to them, their length and their athleticism. Ben Simmons had five steals and they were all over the place. We gotta take care of it. We gotta screen better. We gotta pass better. We gotta make better decisions. It’s on us too, but first and foremost, credit goes to them. Heck of a defensive team.”

Atkinson did give praise to his younger players who fought to keep the Nets in the game.

“They swarmed us defensively,” Coach Atkinson continued. “I was really pleased with our bench and with our young guys. Obviously Nic (Claxton) was really good. That whole group was good, so that bodes well for the future. They kept us afloat there in the first half and did a great job.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Brooklyn Nets with 22 points, five boards, and a team-high seven assists in 35 minutes. Caris LeVert totaled 16 points, six rebounds, and a season-high six assists in 29 minutes off the bench; Nicolas Claxton scored a career-high 15 points (6-of-8 FG) and four rebounds in 17 minutes against Philadelphia, also off the bench, which was just one game after scoring a then-career-high 14 points on Saturday vs. the Milwaukee Bucks; Jarrett Allen recorded his team-high 20th double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in 31 minutes; Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot came off the bench and tallied a season-high 12 points in 15 minutes while shooting 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point range; Taurean Prince posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes and; Joe Harris chipped in 12 points and three rebounds in 33 minutes.

Some wondered if playing tough teams, i.e., Milwaukee and Philadelphia were causing a mental struggle for this Nets team.

“We don’t really have time for a mental struggle,” responded Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie. “Obviously, our season has been very up and down with injuries and lineups and all of that different stuff, so we have to continue to come together as a group. Our focus can’t be external, it has to be internal. Obviously, getting healthy of course, but just figuring it out and gaining that chemistry with our own units, our own lineups and then once we kind of have ourselves down, then we can impose our will on the other teams.”

Brooklyn Nets rookie, Nicolas Claxton, had no mental issues at all when his number was called. He made the most of his time when he was called to play.

“It’s big, especially against Philly – they’re a solid team, Milwaukee is a solid team,” Claxton said about playing real minutes in two straight games. “So, me going out there and producing, I think, is just showing everybody and me showing myself, that I can play at the highest level.”

Philadelphia 76ers Scoring Leaders

Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons played like he was on a mission; he led all players with 34 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists, five steals, and two blocked shots. Al Horford scored 19 points and six rebounds; both Tobias Richardson and Josh Harris each scored 15 points, Richardson added six rebounds to his total points and Harris added four assists, and; Furkan Korkmaz chipped in 10 points and three assists off the bench.

As the Brooklyn Nets led the Philadelphia 76ers through the first three quarters, with only one point separating the Nets from the 76ers at 91-90 going into the final quarter, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown turned up the defensive heat.

Coach Speak: Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown praises Ben Simmons and his team’s defensive effort

“The spirit of the group, the committed sort of team effort to play defense and rally around each other was evident tonight,” Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown told the media. “We sort of played off of Ben Simmons. He, for sure, was the beacon to our defense, but as a group, as a team, we had many contributors tonight. We went with an unlikely group. I had Ben at the five and Mike Scott at the four and had the young guys surround that group. We just rode that longer as they performed. I wanted to see it. It performed well, so we played it longer. Ben Simmons was ridiculously dominant tonight. He played some four. I played him at the five. He had the ball. He was just multi-skilled, used all over the place in multiple positions. Ball handler, screen setter, post target, he was on the five-man defensively. He was just incredible tonight.”

What’s Next for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Philadelphia 76ers will travel to Toronto to face the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, at 7 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will remain home to host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, January 23, 2020, at 8 p.m. ET, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

TIP-INS:

o Spencer Dinwiddie has now scored 20+ points in a single-season career-high 26 games this season (in 41 games played). He scored 20+ in 18 games all of last season (in 68 games played).

o Jarrett Allen is second in the NBA among players 21 or younger in double-doubles, trailing only Luka Doncic (26).