Process that
76ers show Nets gap between them in rout
The 76ers are an example of what can happen when you tank your way to lottery picks that pay off. The Nets are an example of what happens when you’re bad, but have given away your immediate future. That difference was driven home Sunday, when the Nets took a 120-97 beating in front of 16,901 at Barclays Center.
Joel Embiid had 21 points and eight rebounds, while Ben Simmons had 11 points, six assists and six rebounds for a 76ers team that put eight players in double-figures. The Nets allowed 52.6 percent shooting and trailed by as much as 27 points.
“I don’t think there’s an aspect of the game where they didn’t dominate,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “For some reason — and that’s on me — we didn’t have it tonight. We just didn’t have it and they dominated us at every position. At the coach position also.
“It was just a force they applied. You just felt the force and they just overwhelmed us.”
The 76ers were strong with the force. The Nets not so much.
Granted, they’ve been devoid of high lottery picks, so they traded for the likes of D’Angelo Russell and Allen Crabbe. Russell had a game-high 26 points, but Crabbe was invisible with just three points on 1-for-4 shooting.
Crabbe doesn’t live in a bubble or under a rock, so of course he’s heard talk about his four-year, $74 million contract. With great pay comes great responsibility, and he’s determined to live up to both. But Sunday he was a long way from that.
“I’m just coming in each and every day trying to prove my worth and prove what they invested into me. So I feel like that’s what I owe them back,” Crabbe said before the game. “This opportunity that I have now, it’s once in a lifetime.”
With the Nets (21-46) committed to Crabbe long-term after trading for him and the three years and $56 million left on his deal, they need him to be a standout player, not one who recedes into the shadows as he did Sunday. Against a long athletic team that switched on pick-and-rolls, the Nets offense sputtered and he couldn’t get open looks.
“It’s something we’ve got to come up with a solution for, because we’re going to see it more and more,” Atkinson said. “We didn’t find a solution. And personally I’ve got to do a better job helping these guys find solutions against defenses like this.”
They needed to be far, far better Sunday. They let the 76ers hit 19 of their first 23 shots and fell behind by as much as 19 midway through the second quarter. The Nets trailed 54-35 after Robert Covington hit a 3-pointer with 7:46 left in the half.
They never got closer than eight, after a dunk by Jahlil Okafor, seeing his first action a month, made it 68-60 just before the half.
Russell jumpers got it to 70-64 with 10:48 left in the third and 74-68 with 8:20 left. But that’s as close as the Nets got. They never seriously challenged, their frontcourt getting thoroughly outplayed. DeMarre Carroll shot just 1of-9, and Crabbe didn’t get on the scoreboard until there was 4:54 left in the third, when his 3 cut it to 86-77.
But they watched the 76ers pad the lead back to 27.