Brooklyn Nets Blowout Joel Embiid, 76ers on Thursday in South Philly

For weeks, many have had the Philadelphia 76ers versus Brooklyn Nets matchup circled on their calendars. As the two division rivals made the biggest trade of the year by swapping Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, and Seth Curry for James Harden and Paul Millsap, many were eager to see the two stars go at it against their former teams.

Unfortunately for the Nets, their star acquisition isn’t ready to play. As Simmons has been ramping up his conditioning in hopes to return to the floor soon, the three-time All-Star suffered a setback as he’s been dealing with back soreness.

Simmons was ruled out ahead of Thursday’s matchup. However, he intended to show face at the Wells Fargo Center for the first time since last year’s playoff run as he was going to sit on Brooklyn’s bench and support his teammates.

As expected, Simmons dealt with a hostile crowd at first. As the boos rained down on him when he came out on the court for a pregame warmup and prior to tip-off, Simmons finally faced the music. 

Eventually, the crowd transitioned from being frustrated with Simmons and his return to being disappointed in their team’s performance.

Right out of the gate, the Sixers looked like the inferior team against the Nets. Not only did Brooklyn shoot nearly 70-percent from the field in the first quarter, but the Sixers also shot less than 30-percent. Joel Embiid kept the Sixers alive by scoring 16 of the team’s 23 first-quarter points, but Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving dominated as the Nets rallied off 40 points. 

The Sixers got it together and played a lot better in the second quarter, but it still wasn’t enough. The scoring struggles continued as Embiid and James Harden combined for just 13 points. Meanwhile, the Nets continued to shoot over 60-percent from the field and 60-percent from three.

Going into halftime, the 76ers trailed 21 points. Although the Sixers have gotten off to slow starts more often than not over the last couple of weeks, they showed an ability to turn things around and form comebacks. On Thursday, that wasn’t the case.

Another lousy quarter from the field prevented the Sixers from scoring more than 20 points coming out in the second half. In addition, the Sixers turned the ball over six times, making it 16 total turnovers through three quarters.

Meanwhile, the Nets not only took care of the ball, but they continued to shoot efficiently. And heading into the fourth quarter, it was clear the Sixers were on their way to waving the white flag as they trailed 102-70. 

In the final quarter of action, the Sixers sat their entire starting lineup. Everybody but the veteran forward Paul Millsap picked up playing time. By the time the game clock expired, the Sixers could no longer delay the inevitable. With an uninspiring showing, the Sixers fell flat against the Nets and took on a blowout 129-120 loss.

While it’s just their 25th loss of the regular season and they remain out in front of Brooklyn, the 76ers can’t feel confident about going into one of the most important games of the season and coming up way short. 

One loss doesn’t define the Sixers as they are still working on finding their fit with a new lineup, but the Nets made a statement by going into Philadelphia and crushing the James Harden-Joel Embiid-led Sixers, issuing the duo their first loss in six games together. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.