I guess we enjoyed Sixers basketball a little too much fun over the last week, because they made us suffer tonight with a disappointing 122-109 loss in Brooklyn to the Nets. Even without Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, the Nets controlled this game from start to finish while Marv and Chris Weber put us to sleep with one of the most boring broadcasts in recent memory.

Carelessness

From the tip, the Sixers came out with a clear lack of energy on both ends. Their carelessness with the ball caused them to give up over 30 points on their 20 team turnovers. Both Embiid and Simmons had an out of character night, each with 5 turnovers. Tobias Harris was lackluster as well, giving away the ball 4 times. In a game where the difference was only 13 points, we can look at the lack of care for the ball as a main reason for tonight’s poor performance.

Poor Effort

While there isn’t a clear statistic to show the lack of effort, it was evident all night there was no energy in the Barclay’s Center coming from the Sixers. The Nets seemed to get whatever they wanted on offense, and Philadelphia looked lost in all facets of the game. A very disappointing game after a good stretch of games from the team over the past week.

Few Bright Spots

The young bulls showed out tonight, Tyrese Maxey and Shake Milton combined for 40 points and 0 turnovers even in Milton’s first start of the season. It is encouraging to see the young guys fight tooth and nail even in a brutal loss, and even more discouraging to see that they were two of the few guys to seem to maintain that effort throughout.

Brooklyn Leaders

Caris Levert was impressive in the Nets win, pouring on 22 points, most of which came in the first half. Joe Harris killed the Sixers with 28 points on 6 of 9 shooting from deep. I honestly believe this Nets team is better without Kyrie on the floor, they moved the ball extremely well tonight.

Stay Calm

Yes, the Sixers were highly disappointing in this game, but to flip the script so quickly after how well they played is completely uncalled for. They are 7-2, they are coming off of a back to back after a shoot out against the Wizards last night. They were without their best floor spacer, and understandably lacked energy in this one. So, relax, stop calling for James Harden, stop overreacting, the world isn’t coming to an end after this loss. The 76ers are back in action against the Nuggets on Saturday afternoon, so spare me the with crying wolf tonight and move on to the weekend.

Mandatory Credit: USA Today