The Nets’ got bullied in their first two playoff games at Philadelphia.
Down 0-2 in their first-round series, they have to hit back in Thursday’s Game 3 or face getting swept out of the postseason for a second straight year in their own building.
“Just come ready. We expect to come out and do everything we can to win the game,” Spencer Dinwiddie said. “We had our chances up in Philly. The higher seed held serve on their home floor, which is what they’re supposed to do, and we expect to win Game 3. That’s what we’re coming to do.”
Brooklyn’s struggles on the defensive glass are getting historic.
And their playoff stay will be history if they don’t fix them against the much bigger 76ers.
“It’s going to be on us to continue to try and deliver the first blow, that’s about as simple as I can say it,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We’ve got to enjoy hitting, and hit first.”
So far Brooklyn has watched the 76ers hit first, and hit harder.
The Nets will come into Thursday having been outscored a mind-bending 39-3 in second-chance points.
That’s the fewest of any NBA team through two games in the past 25 years, since Elias Sports Bureau started tracking the stat.
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Brooklyn doesn’t have the size to match up with Joel Embiid, but can’t afford to have Nic Claxton go scoreless like he did in Monday’s Game 2 loss.
“It’s definitely good to be back. We’re down two and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re ready,” Claxton said. “It’s always fun playing here in the playoffs, and our fans are definitely going to help us bring that edge going into Game 3.”
Though the Nets aren’t likely to win the rebounding war or have more second-chance points, it can’t be so lopsided as to not even give themselves a chance.
“We definitely continue to talk about it,” Vaughn said. “We’ve talked about it, we addressed it. We named it, we put it in perspective, we reality-checked it, all of the above, to understand everyone has to come back and hit every single time.”
Their 36-point deficit through two games was also unheard of, the next-most being Utah’s 44-14 advantage over the Lakers in the 2008 Western Conference semifinals.
The Nets can draw solace from the fact LA rallied to win that series 4-2, but the Lakers had Kobe Bryant and didn’t have to deal with Embiid.
“Sometimes it’s tough the way we’re scrambling defensively, we’re really just out of [position],” Claxton said. “We’re just not in a good position to rebound, and they’ve got guys sitting in the dunker. So that’s going to be big. The difference on the glass can’t be as big.”
Still, their deficit on the boards was only partly due to having to double the presumptive MVP favorite and also a matter of hustle.
“A little bit of both,” Dinwiddie admitted. “I mean, obviously they’ve got bigger bodies on that team. You know they’re going to crash the glass, they’re going to do what’s most effective for them. I’m sure that’s probably their game plan is to pound the boards.
“We do have to put a little bit more effort into that, have a little bit more physicality, and maybe not necessarily beat them in that category, but just close the gap. That’s one of the areas that we can definitely improve, especially if we turn them over like we did in Game 2.”
Brooklyn has actually defended Embiid fairly well and largely smothered James Harden, defenders keeping their former star in front of them and avoiding cheap fouls.
They missed makeable shots in Game 2 and hope being at home will change that — as long as they don’t completely give the game away on the glass.
“Our job is to make sure we stay grounded,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. “We have to keep getting better. There’s a lot of things that we have to do to be a better basketball team, and better in this series. You go on the road you’ve got to anticipate them playing better, so we have to play better.”