Sixers defense aggressive in preseason win at Brooklyn Nets

NEW YORK — De’Anthony Melton leapt high into the air near the right wing, using his long arms to tap the ball to himself in stride before finishing with a thunderous dunk on the other end.

Coach Nick Nurse was curious to see how his 76ers would react defensively to the Brooklyn Nets’ fast-paced offense. The result: His team forced 27 turnovers for 35 points in a 127-119 preseason victory Monday night at the Barclays Center that was a blowout for most of the night before turning interesting late.

Eighteen of those Sixers takeaways for 22 points — a hallmark of Nurse’s defensive style — occurred during a first half when the Sixers led by as many as 21. Four Sixers picked up multiple steals, including four by Melton on a fill-the-box score night with 15 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds in 32 minutes. Those forced turnovers also propelled the Sixers to take 114 shots, compared to the Nets’ 81.

“There’s just an energy and an alertness and a readiness that it starts with,” Nurse said. “There’s some length and some hands. They were just challenging a lot of passes and not giving up [on] helping each other. Guys getting beat, and there’d be somebody else there immediately.”

Still, this Sixers preseason continues to be an incomplete product, with stars Joel Embiid and James Harden missing all three games.

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Harden’s absence was not a surprise as he continues to ramp up his conditioning following his holdout, but Embiid was initially expected to play before being ruled out Monday due to illness. Harden said last week that he hopes to play in Friday’s exhibition finale against the Atlanta Hawks.

Starting forward P.J. Tucker (ankle) and reserve wings Danuel House Jr. (knee) and Furkan Korkmaz (hamstring) also missed the game, while standout guard Tyrese Maxey left in the second quarter with back spasms after totaling eight points and two assists in 15 minutes. Former Villanova star Mikal Bridges (rest), who wore a Phillies hat on the bench in honor of Game 1 of the NLCS, also did not play for the Nets.

With the Sixers missing their top three scorers for all or most of Monday’s outing, Tobias Harris (who declined to speak to the media after the game) put together his best performance of the preseason. He finished with 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting, including multiple textbook turnaround jumpers, nine rebounds, and three assists in 25 minutes.

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And after Tucker was a late scratch just before tip-off, Kelly Oubre Jr. moved into the starting lineup and was unafraid to let the ball fly.

He finished with 21 points on 24 shot attempts, and added four assists, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Nurse particularly liked Oubre in the second-unit that will more align with his instant-offense role when the Sixers are at full strength, when he made three of his five shots (including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc) in the second quarter.

“He just kind of got one bucket after another,” Nurse said. “I think he’s going be that kind of second-unit guy we go to a little bit.”

Nurse described Harris’ and Oubre’s performances, plus the outings from Melton and Paul Reed (18 points, five rebounds), as “super confident” while playing heavier minutes.

“I really liked just the way they were attacking the basket, attacking shot-taking,” Nurse said.

Without Embiid, Reed was again the Sixers’ starting center. Though he missed a couple of shots inside early, he scored in a variety of ways. A couple of jumpers. A hook shot. A two-handed dunk on the run following a steal. An alley-oop finish. And two consecutive inside finishes that put the Sixers back up 110-99 with less than seven minutes to play.

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Filip Petrusev, not Mo Bamba, was the Sixers’ backup at that spot and finished with seven points, five rebounds, and three assists. The only thing that took Petrusev out of that role was when he picked up four fouls in the first half, leading to Bamba entering with less than two minutes to go before the break.

“We needed to try it to see how he was,” Nurse said of that lineup decision. “We hadn’t given [Petrusev] much of a look, and he really played kind of what he is. He’s a pretty intelligent player. He fights. He can shoot the three-ball. He knows what he’s doing out there as far as where to be on defense and when to screen, when to roll, when to pop. He’s got a pretty good feel for the game.”

That “fight” included when he got tangled with former Sixer Ben Simmons following a hard foul in the fourth quarter. Shortly after that sequence, Sixers veteran guard Patrick Beverley was called for his second technical and ejected for what Nurse described as sticking up for Petrusev.

“I thought it was uncalled for,” Petrusev said of Simmons’ actions before the double technical, “because he couldn’t get the ball. It was just, I don’t want to say a dirty play, but so unnecessary.”

Eight of the Nets’ turnovers came from Simmons, who finished with eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, nine assists, and six rebounds. His highlight came with less than eight minutes to play, on a steal and breakaway dunk that briefly cut the Sixers’ lead to 106-99 and ignited the home crowd.

Before the game, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said he wanted Simmons “to continue to build his confidence in just making plays” after struggling with injuries since being traded from the Sixers to the Nets in February 2022.

“I have not said one thing about him throwing around-the-back passes or trying to shovel a pass,” Vaughn said. “I want him to do all those things. That’s what makes him special.”

While walking onto the court for the opening tip-off, Simmons dapped up former teammates Harris, Maxey, and Reed.