PHILADELPHIA _ Kyrie Irving misfired all night and the Nets fell apart down the stretch.
The end result was a 117-106 loss Wednesday night to the Sixers, one of those games that served as a reminder that the Nets are a work-in-progress and aren't ready to jump into contender status.
Irving produced a dud in his third game back from a shoulder injury. It was the second game of a back-to-back following his long absence and Irving looked like it He was still smooth and seamless with the ball, but the lift was just a tad short off the ground. That was enough to throw Irving off.
He finished with just 14 points on 6-for-21 shooting, including 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter. Spencer Dinwiddie tried to pick up the slack and totaled 26 points but the Sixers (26-16) took a 106-104 lead with 3:30 remaining on Al Horford's hook shot and never looked back. They ended the game on a 13-2 run.
The Nets (18-22) have lost 8 of their last 10 games and next face the Bucks, Sixers (again) and Lakers. It's a brutal stretch.
Nets center DeAndre Jordan dislocated his finger in the second quarter and beelined to the bench so that the trainer could pop it back in place. It must've not worked because Jordan was ruled out for the game, leaving the Nets with Jarrett Allen as their only center. That led to issues because Allen had four fouls by the third quarter and Kenny Atkinson was forced to insert 6-8 forward Wilson Chandler at the 5.
Luckily for the Nets, Philly's big bruiser Joel Embiid was out because of a hand injury. Still, Brooklyn's lack of frontcourt depth was apparent. Tobias Harris buried the Nets with 34 points.
The Nets were solid during Irving's long absence but ended it on a sour note while losing seven of the final eight. There's no doubt they'll need Irving, perhaps the most gifted ballhandler in the NBA, to max out this season.
Before Wednesday, he emerged from his injury on fire. In the two games prior, the point guard shot 73.3% (22-30) from the field and 66.7% (4-6) from beyond the arc. Rust following a 26-game absence wasn't an issue, but Irving acknowledged his start in Brooklyn wasn't ideal.
There was a facial fracture in training camp, then a preseason trip to China that turned into an international controversy, then the shoulder impingement.
"Being out for those games really gave me time to slow down, get healthy, really put an emphasis on getting my body to where I wanted to get it to," Irving said. "Early in the season I had three broken bones in my face and I get hit again in China. I had a short preseason and I had to make up that time and I think that's what contributed to my shoulder impingement is making up for lost time."
Irving said his production _ specifically his shot _ was negatively affected by his shoulder pain before he started sitting out. He also hinted at a misdiagnosis that complicated the situation.
"My last four games I played on that road trip (right before the 26-game absence) _ I re-watched a lot of those games and I was just rushing my jump shot. I wasn't following through and I could feel it in my shoulder, I wasn't feeling comfortable," Irving said. "And then you compound that with not really knowing what's the right diagnosis and what's you're supposed to be doing. So once I figured that out I felt I was in a better place and I could kind of get my elbow pointed and not have that impingement."
