PHILADELPHIA — Nets center Nic Claxton’s putback layup just beat the buzzer — and beat the 76ers, 105-103, on Saturday night.
Claxton deposited a Keon Johnson missed 3-pointer, an acrobatic shot that just beat the clock before he was mobbed by Ziaire Williams, Trendon Watford and the rest of the Nets.
It was a come-from-behind victory that many of their fans will call Pyrrhic.
The tanking Nets (21-35) had been in a flat-footed tie with the Sixers for the sixth-best odds in the lottery. Now, they’ve fallen to seventh and are just ¹/₂-game ahead of Chicago in the race to the bottom.
Cam Johnson had a team-high 23 points, and Claxton added 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.
The Nets had led by as many as 17, only to trail with 1:48 left.
Philadelphia started its Big Three — Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George — for just the 15th time. But the Nets, despite not having D’Angelo Russell or Cam Thomas, survived Tyrese Maxey’s 31 and gutted out the victory.
The Nets hit their first eight shots from the floor, Johnson’s three free throws staking them to a 23-15 lead.
Embiid looked hobbled, and with the Sixers playing drop coverage and doing it passively, the Nets got whatever looks they wanted.
And they made them.
The Nets led 40-30 after a first quarter that saw them hit 15 of 20, their best shooting quarter of the season.
A team that had struggled mightily on offense recently raced out to a 60-43 lead as boos and bile rained down at Wells Fargo Center.
Embiid seemed to favor his knee on more than one occasion. The Nets, running their offensive sets immaculately, got inside at will.
Owning a 63-52 edge at the half, the Nets went up 71-54 when Claxton took advantage of the clearly hobbled Embiid inside for a layup.
The Nets conceded a 14-4 run, seeing the Sixers pull within 75-68 on an Embiid jumper with 3:42 left in the third.
The fourth quarter started with Embiid on the bench with a wrap on his foot.
George cut the Nets’ lead to five, and then Maxey found Kelly Oubre Jr. for a dunk that cut it to 89-86 with 7:19 left.
Claxton lost the ball trying to dribble between two defenders, but the defense held. And Watford drove for an and-one.
It was still a six-point lead when George scored.
After a Watford turnover, Keon Johnson committed goaltending on a Maxey attempt to see the lead cut to 94-92.
That lead was gone altogether moments later when Maxey found Quentin Grimes for a go-ahead 3-pointer. The Nets trailed 95-94 with 4:11 to play. Oubre’s follow dunk off Maxey’s miss made it 97-94.
The Nets retook the lead 102-100 when Watford found Keon Johnson for a 3-pointer with 1:49 remaining.
Claxton added a free throw with 1:04 left, but Maxey knotted it again with a 3-pointer. But Claxton ended up with the winner.