After Monday’s humiliating loss, the Nets needed a gut check.
After one night, they showed that their mettle was just fine.
Brooklyn came from behind to beat Philadelphia 112-107 in front of a crowd of 17,086 at Barclays Center.
Sure, the 76ers didn’t have Joel Embiid or Tyrese Maxey, but the Grizzlies were without their top five players on Monday and the Nets still lost to them.
And while Brooklyn had a terrible record this season, finishing last in back-to-back games with a 2-7 record, they were trailing by 14 points in this game.
That was before going on an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to fight back and claim the win.
Dennis Schroder had 20 points and eight assists, Dorian Finney-Smith added 20 points and eight boards, and Brooklyn shot 58.8 percent in the fateful final period.
At the end of the game, the Nets (25-37) remained 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the last play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks jumped out to a huge lead early at the Garden and held on to win 116-100.
After falling behind early and trailing by eight points with 8 minutes, 24 seconds left, they became sharper and their defense tougher.
And thanks to 11 unanswered points and some defense late in the game, they won.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a game-high 30 points for shorthanded Philadelphia, which fell to 35-26.
Finney Smith made a 3-pointer off a feed from Dennis Smith Jr. with 4:12 left in the first quarter to give the Nets an early 23-21 lead.
Then the attacks disappeared.
The Nets were scoreless for the next 5 minutes, 36 seconds.
I ran without a basket until the next 7:25.
Philadelphia took away 12 unanswered points and was left in a 33-23 hole on Kyle Lowry’s pull-up 3. They didn’t score until Schroder took a hit from the foul line 1:24 into the second quarter.
By the time rookie Jalen Wilson finally made up for his mistake, the Nets had committed 13 consecutive errors and committed five turnovers.
The Nets still trailed by 12 points after KJ Martin, son of former Nets great Kenyon Martin, made a dunk that would have made his father proud. The Nets, who were down 43-31, took away nine unanswered hits and succeeded in making a comeback.
Lonnie Walker (19 points) capped off a 9-0 run with a midrange fadeaway to pull the Nets within 43-40 with 4:49 left in the first half.
Schroder hit a 3-pointer off Mikal Bridges, who had another quiet night, to put the Nets ahead 56-55 with 3.3 seconds left before intermission.
Brooklyn somehow entered the locker room down by one after allowing 63.2 percent shooting in the first quarter. And an 11-3 run to start the third gave them a seven-point lead.
Four minutes into the second half, Schroder’s driving layup gave the Nets a 67-60 lead. But they couldn’t stand it.
Brooklyn was outscored 71-66 while allowing an 11-2 deficit.
Cam Payne’s 3-point shot put them behind 77-73, and the lead widened from there.
They fought back to make it 92-84 with 8 minutes and 24 seconds left.
But 11 people went unanswered, giving them a permanent lead.
Indeed, Smith and Schroder each made just 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, tied for 92-all.
But Claxton dunked on a feed from Schroder, was fouled and calmly converted an and-one for a 95-92 lead with 5:44 left.
The Nets never followed again.
After Oubre’s hook, Smith swiped a Lowry pass toward Tobias Harris for a breakaway dunk to make it 97-94 with 4:26 left.
Claxton (17 points, 10 boards) blocked Oubre and Finney-Smith’s 3-pointer on the other end made it 106-100 with a minute and a half left in regulation.
