It was not the heavyweight bout that many had hoped, but the Nets sure made things interesting.

Brooklyn made a serious fourth-quarter push to come within three points of the 76ers down the stretch, but the Nets ultimately fell 123-117 in Philly on Wednesday. The result gives the Sixers the tiebreaker between the two teams if one is deemed necessary by the end of the regular season.

Not much was expected from a Nets team that was missing Kevin Durant, James Harden, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Chiozza… the list goes on. Still, the Nets made Philadelphia work for it after the 76ers seemed to have clinched victory.

After trailing by as many as 22 points, Brooklyn went on a 21-2 run in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to as little as three in the closing minutes. The 76ers were forced to bring their starters back out after Brooklyn’s initial run — and this was all with Kyrie Irving on the bench.

It was a reserve-led run that forced the 76ers to work until the final buzzer. Alize Johnson pushed the pace as Landry Shamet, Bruce Brown, Nic Claxton and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot out-worked Philadelphia’s starters to make things interesting in the final minutes. 

NO QUIT IN THIS GROUP. pic.twitter.com/pDPvZNWleh

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 15, 2021

It was an admirable effort from Brooklyn, but Philadelphia ultimately held on — largely thanks to their defense. The Nets shot 51.8% overall and made just 4-of-21 shots from three. Meanwhile, the 76ers shot 51.7% and 13-of-28 from distance. 

Brooklyn fell behind early due to turnovers and was never able to fully make up the gap. The 76ers scored 28 points off the Nets’ 15 giveaways, which ultimately helped them hold onto the lead down the stretch. 

The Nets’ sloppiness came as they were without many of their ball-handlers, especially as Chiozza is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having surgery on his broken right hand. Brooklyn had difficulty getting stops throughout the night, recording 11 points off 10 Philadelphia turnovers. 

Joel Embiid took advantage of Brooklyn’s smaller lineup throughout the night. DeAndre Jordan did a good job of containing him early and Johnson frustrated him late, but Embiid largely got what he wanted with 39 points and 13 rebounds.

This was not a full-strength Nets squad, but they still managed to show fight and exposed some of Philadelphia’s weaknesses while closing the game on a 27-11 run. That only leaves room to imagine what Brooklyn can do against the 76ers in Scary Hours.

We will just have to wait and see what the playoffs bring.