Miserable quarter dooms Nets in Game 2 loss to 76ers

PHILADELPHIA — The Nets knew this was going to be a fist fight. A salty Sixers team even warned them. But that didn’t stop them from getting knocked out.

After stealing the opener of this first-round series, the Nets took it on the chin in Game 2, literally and figuratively. They took a 145-123 beating Monday at the hands of the 76ers before a frenzied sellout crowd of 20,591 at Wells Fargo Center.

The enduring image was Joel Embiid flooring Jarrett Allen with a vicious elbow that left the young center bloodied. The two-time All-Star somehow avoided a flagrant 2 and an ejection, that call potentially saving the Sixers’ series hopes — and coach Brett Brown’s job.

That was in the waning moments of the first half, with Allen’s flagrant free throws knotting it at 64-all with 35.6 seconds left. The Nets lost it all in the third, when they were outscored 51-23.

“They did a fantastic job, they got into us. I’d classify it as extreme physicality,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “[They] denied us, held us, pushed us. We did a good job of holding the fort in the first half. … Third quarter, we didn’t respond. That was really the story of the game.

“Their coach said before the game it was going to be a fist fight. They threw a couple punches. No comment on the call but very, very physical. … I know this: We have to respond. They dominated us in the paint, dominated us on the boards.”

The Nets were outrebounded 49-32, and allowed 56.1 percent shooting.

Within 65-64 at intermission, the Nets conceded the first 14 points of the second half. The deficit reached 29 after three quarters and 32 in the fourth.

“We got a little rattled,” DeMarre Carroll said. “We just started being loose with the ball, turning the ball over, speeding our plays up, not getting back in transition.”

Embiid — who was caught with Amir Johnson looking at Johnson’s cell phone on the bench during Game 1 and had been questionable with a sore left knee — finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Ben Simmons — who had been salty enough over his own fans’ Game 1 boos that he told them to “stay over on [the Nets’] side” — vowed to be more aggressive and was. He finished with a triple-double (18 points, 12 assists and 10 boards) and cupped his ear to the applause like Allen Iverson, who was seated courtside, used to.

“I got a lot of love for this city and the fans here. Every time I step on the floor I try and play as hard as I can. I was just showing that,” said Simmons, who harassed D’Angelo Russell.

It was a complete caning handed out by Philadelphia. Spencer Dinwiddie had 19 points, Russell had 16 and Caris LeVert finished with 13. But they were the only Nets regulars to acquit themselves well.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (15 points) and Shabazz Napier (13) got in late, with the game getting out of hand.

“Not pleased in the way we presented ourselves,” Atkinson said. “We were below average quite honestly.”

“Just them playing hard, them scoring and us not being able to stay calm and play our game, and just let it blow open,” Allen said. “We lost a little bit of composure.”

Trailing 16-8 and then 44-31 with 9:55 left in the first half, the Nets outscored the Sixers 33-21 to go into the break down by one. But they got blown away in a nightmarish third.

Philadelphia opened with that 14-0 run behind Embiid, one that extended into 22-2 blitz. The deficit quickly reached 89-68 after a 3-pointer by Tobias Harris (19 points) with 7:41 left in the third. Brooklyn fell behind by 32 in a fourth that devolved into garbage time.

“Defensively, they did a good job of just rallying up those stops,” Russell said. “They got multiple stops in a row, then we couldn’t stop the bleeding, so that just snowball effect and we looked up and it was out of reach.”