Nets clip 76ers with furious late rally for thrilling first win

PHILADELPHIA — After the Nets didn’t vie oregon support capable successful Tuesday’s humiliation successful Milwaukee, they were challenged Friday successful Philadelphia.

And the Nets responded with a thrilling 114-109 come-from-behind gut-check triumph implicit the Sixers astatine Wells Fargo Center.

Following a 23-point nonaccomplishment to the champion Bucks, erstwhile they got battered connected the boards and muscled each implicit the court, the Nets’ pridefulness got stung. And aft falling digging themselves into a two-touchdown first-quarter spread successful Philadelphia, they stormed backmost from a double-digit shortage successful the 4th to win.

They closed connected a 16-1 tally to bargain the win.

“The biggest 1 for america is I don’t deliberation we played hard capable [in Milwaukee]. We mislaid the 50-50 balls, each that stuff,” manager Steve Nash said. “The mechanisms of our squad is going to instrumentality time; it’s going to instrumentality a agelong clip for america to fig retired combinations, rotations, however we each acceptable unneurotic and getting connected the aforesaid leafage arsenic acold arsenic benignant of play.

“All that stuff, there’s nary cheat expanse oregon shortcut to that. But the playing hard, the 50-50 balls, the willingness and diligence to instrumentality to our principles and person that subject to bash it clip and clip again, that’s got to improve.”

Kevin Durant puts up a jumper during the Nets’ 114-109 triumph implicit the 76ers. NBAE via Getty Images

They did conscionable that, against a Philadelphia squad that finished with the champion grounds successful the Eastern Conference past season.

Kevin Durant led the mode with a triple-double (29 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists).

James Harden added 20 points, 8 assists and 7 boards, portion LaMarcus Aldridge had an encouraging 23 disconnected the bench.

The Nets came close retired and dug themselves into a 20-6 hole, erstwhile Joel Embiid (19 points) recovered Tobias Harris for a 3-pointer with 6:56 near successful the archetypal quarter.

Brooklyn was inactive trailing 108-98 with 5 ½ minutes left, the Nets scored six consecutive to get it to 4 with 3:18 to play.

After Danny Green missed a precocious 3-pointer, Patty Mills’ digit rotation pulled Brooklyn wrong 108-106 with 2 minutes left. And aft Mills missed another, the Nets had a accidental to tie. Aldridge and Durant couldn’t link connected a pass, but they converged connected Embiid to unit a missed digit rotation with a infinitesimal remaining.

Aldridge got a dunk and one, putting Brooklyn up 109-108 with 48 seconds to play.

Tobias Harris (23 points) missed a driving floater from 11-feet away, and Aldridge calmly sank 2 much escaped throws for a three-point borderline with 16 seconds near successful regulation. They held connected to guarantee determination would beryllium nary overtime.

And they did it with a combat and grit that had been truthful sorely and conspicuously absent successful Milwaukee.

“Physicality, I mean, the deficiency of showing up. That had a batch to bash with everything that was going on. So I consciousness similar we’re going to travel successful amended [against Philadelphia],” said James Johnson, who took the deficiency of combat personally.

“Of course. I deliberation we were doing excessively overmuch talking. We cognize who we are, and we cognize what we’re susceptible of doing and we cognize each nighttime everybody is going to bring their best. So we’ve got to travel retired and we can’t beryllium lackadaisical.”