Sixers get pounded by lowly Nets
This was bad even for a team that benefits from losing games. But the 76ers suffered more than a loss Tuesday night. It bordered on humiliation.
This was bad even for a team that benefits from losing games.
But the 76ers suffered more than a loss Tuesday night. It bordered on humiliation.
The last-place Brooklyn Nets defeated the Sixers, 141-118, with Markelle Fultz, the projected first overall draft pick, in attendance. This game was over shortly after it started. Brooklyn's total shattered the Wells Fargo Center record of 139 points set by the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 14, 2013. The Nets' 81 first-half points were also an arena record. They were up by 28 points at that point.
The Nets (19-59) shot 70 percent in the first half and 64 for the game as they extended their winning streak to a season-best three games.
By the end of the night, the only noise in the arena came from the Nets fans chanting "Brook-lyn."
"Today our performance was under any NBA level," Dario Saric said. "What can I say? I always try to talk honestly. I apologize to Philly fans that this team that showed up on this court wasn't on any [NBA] level."
The loss dropped the Sixers to 28-50 and extended their losing streak to four games. If there was a bright side, it was that the loss was lottery friendly.
The Sixers still have the league's fifth-worst record. They remain one loss behind the league's fourth-worst team, the Orlando Magic (27-51) with four games left. It would benefit the Sixers to finish with a worse record than the Magic.
However, they would be assured on finishing no lower than eighth in the June 22 NBA draft if their position remained the same. They Sixers would also have an 8.8 percent chance to be awarded the top pick and a 29.1 percent chance at a top-three slot at the May 16 draft lottery.
That outside chance is one of the reasons Fultz came up from Maryland to attend the game. The former Washington point guard wanted to check out the Sixers and the arena's atmosphere. He's also a good friend of the Sixers' first overall pick in the last draft, Ben Simmons.
Fultz averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game during his lone season with the Huskies. He was a McDonald's all-American at Maryland's DeMatha High School in 2016.
Fultz told CSN Philly that he expects to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. However, he did say that he liked the Sixers atmosphere.
"It's crazy, man," Fultz said. "Even though this season is going like this, and it's still this many people out here. I like it."
But he witnessed a total beat-down. The Nets had 100 points and were up by 35 points with 5 minutes, 6 seconds left in the third quarter.
Brooklyn shot 51.6 percent on three-pointers and led by as many as 39 points in the fourth quarter.
Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez led the Nets with 16 points apiece. They were among eight double-digit scorers for Brooklyn.
"We give Brooklyn credit," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. ". . . None of us could guard any of them."
Sixers shooting guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot finished with a game-high 19 points. Reserve center Shawn Long had 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting.
Saric finished with 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting to go with three rebounds, two assists, one steal and two turnovers in 19:09 of action. The power forward has scored 1,005 points to become just the 11th Sixer rookie to surpass 1,000 in a season. The rookie-of-the-year favorite has a 24-minute restriction because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
Tuesday's game was a homecoming for Brooklyn's Randy Foye, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and K.J. McDaniels.
Hollis-Jefferson is from Chester. McDaniels was selected by the Sixers in the second-round of the 2014 draft. They traded him to the Houston Rockets at that season's trade deadline. Foye was a standout at Villanova. The Wildcats play some of their home games at the Center.
"This is a special place, this building," said Foye, an 11th-year veteran. "This is where it all started. Even though we play on the Main Line, this is where it all started it. You got that atmosphere of your lifetime dream of being an NBA player."
But this loss really hurt the Sixers. They dropped three places to 17th in the league in team defensive efficiency after the lopsided loss.
"To poke ourselves in the eye this late in the year is a real sour taste in my mouth," Brown said.
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