"Best" & "Worst" awards: Sixers vs. Nets

My look at some of the best and worst performances and happenings from the 76ers' 121-120 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center:

Best performance: Evan Turner is the easy choice to win this award. Check that, the Sixers swingman is the only legitimate choice to win this award. The 6-foot-7, 217-pounder's driving layup at the buzzer gave the Sixers a much-needed victory over the undermanned Nets. He also broke out of his shooting slump by scoring a game-high 29 points on 13-for-22 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. Turner made his first eight shot attempts.

Worst performance:  On the surface, this is a tough one, because Spencer Hawes and Andray Blatche both struggled, offensively.  Yet, don't let Hawes' 3-for-14 shooting fool you. The center still finished 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.  Blatche, however, had six points on 3-for-10 shooting. The 6-11 backup center/power forward was also a no-show on the boards, finishing with just three rebounds. So I have to give it to the Net.

Best performance in a losing effort: As one of the only efficient Nets, Paul Pierce has to get this one. The future Hall of Famer went 7-for-9 from the floor – including 4 of 6 on three-pointers – en route to finishing with 24 points. His 26-foot three-pointer gave Brooklyn a 120-119 lead with 16.9 seconds left in overtime. Pierce also finished with 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and six turnovers. Yeah, yeah, I know six turnovers are terrible. But, hey, no one's perfect.

Best defensive performance:  Thaddeus Young gets this award. The Sixers power forward had three steals to go with a blocked shot.  Effective on both ends of the court, the 6-8, 230-pounder also finished with 25 points.

Worst statistic: How can you not give this to Brooklyn's foul shooting? They shot 66.7 percent (10-for-15) from the free-throw line.

Best statistic: This award goes to the Sixers' points in the paint.  They held a 66-30 points-in-the-paint advantage.

Worst of the Worst: I know the Nets were without Joe Johnson and Kevin Garnett. But this award has to go to Brooklyn's second-half bench points. The Nets reserves combined to score just four points after intermission.

-          Keith Pompey

Follow and contact Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers