Brooklyn’s final sequence Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers felt like a movie to everyone, especially Nets center Nic Claxton.
Tied at 103 despite the Nets leading by 17 points at one point in the third quarter, everything miraculously fell right into place. Trendon Watford took on an iso with roughly five seconds left to play, pulled a help defender and dished the ball to Keon Johnson for an open shot on the left wing.
Though Johnson was disappointingly off the mark with a second to spare, Claxton then crashed the boards for a buzzer-beating tip that now has the Nets lurking behind Chicago for a coveted play-in appearance and the Eastern Conference's No. 10 seed.
Clax's first game-winner? Absolute cinema.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) February 23, 2025
Philadelphia 📍 On Location, presented by @JetBlue pic.twitter.com/8Uc8ZIurp1
Brooklyn shot 50.6 percent from the field in the two-point road win, scoring 60 points in the paint as forward Cam Johnson led the team with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey led the contest with 31 points and five assists on 10-of-23 shooting overall through a game-high 43 minutes.
Claxton finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and five blocks in a team-high 36 games for his best performance of 2025, now slowly starting to show shades of the player we expected to see this season after fighting through some difficult hamstring and back injuries earlier in the campaign.
This was Claxton's first game-winner ever, what the sixth-year center called a top-three moment in his career.
Nic Claxton told me tonight's buzzer-beater is a Top-3 moment in his basketball career.
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 23, 2025
“The masked hero that Brooklyn needed comes through at the end,” Nets broadcaster Ian Eagle said on the call.
The Bulls, which are currently riding a six-game losing streak, will travel to Philadelphia on Monday for the 76ers’ next matchup at Wells Fargo Center. Meanwhile, this Nets win effectively ended Philadelphia’s season and likely five-time All-NBA center Joel Embiid’s 2024-25 stint as well.
Embiid hasn’t been himself lately, and ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Sunday afternoon that the 76ers and their two-time scoring champ are now consulting doctors to determine options for his injured knee. Charania also noted that Embiid has scored 15 or fewer points in consecutive games for the first time in nearly four years.
ESPN News Services wrote that Embiid, who has played in 19 of 56 games this season after signing a three-year, $193 million extension in September, declined to comment.
The 76ers and Joel Embiid are consulting doctors and considering alternative options on his injured knee, sources tell ESPN. Sides have hoped for progress in Embiid’s body, but his efforts to play and current treatments, including injections, have not provided any improvement. pic.twitter.com/GXeqxC7Nwj
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 23, 2025
Philadelphia (20-36) will likely be relegated to top-six NBA Draft Lottery odds with Embiid presumably getting shut down and the franchise’s priorities shifting.
It looks as if six teams — the Wizards, Pelicans, Jazz, Hornets, Raptors and 76ers — are locks to finish with better odds than Brooklyn for the No. 1 overall pick in 2025.