Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from a 2nd-half meltdown at Philadelphia

2. Nets may have to rethink coverage on Marjanovic

The Brooklyn Nets have been content to let 7-foot-3 backup center Boban Marjanovic of the Philadelphia 76ers take wide-open mid-range jumpers from 15 to 18 feet away.

They may need to rethink that strategy, because Bobi is 13-for-21 in the series and keeps knocking down open set shots (we’re not calling that thing a jump shot because his feet seldom leave the floor).

Jarrett Allen and the other Nets manning the 5 spot have sagged way off Marjanovic and he’s burned them repeatedly over the first two games of the series.

He has 29 points in the series while playing just 34 minutes, including 16 on 8-of-14 shooting to go with eight rebounds in 18 minutes of action in Game 2.

The Nets may need to respect Marjanovic’s touch a bit more as the series heads to Brooklyn. He’s not a particularly adept passer and he’s not going to put the ball on the floor, so maybe the Nets could look to apply more pressure when Marjanovic is handling the rock on the perimeter.

Yes, it will draw Allen away from the basket, but given the success Bobi has had knocking down mid-range looks, maybe you take your chance on his passing and decision-making instead.

3. 76ers made defensive changes in 2nd half

For the first time in 5½ games against the Brooklyn Nets in 2018-19, the Philadelphia 76ers tried something different to defend against the pick-and-roll.

In the second half, the 76ers switched less and the Nets were slow to read that change and react to it.

Instead, Philadelphia fought over those screens more aggressively and the screener’s defender hedged long enough to allow the primary defender to clear the screen without having to switch.

The Nets’ guards, however, kept attacking the lane against the smaller, quicker defenders … with much less satisfactory results.

D’Angelo Russell didn’t score in the second half. Spencer Dinwiddie had eight points after the break, going for 4-for-8. Caris LeVert went 1-for-4 after the break and scored just three points.

Those three had combined for 37 points in the first half after rocking the 76ers to sleep with 67 points combined in Game 1.

It was the first time all season the 76ers had really figured out how to stop Brooklyn’s guards from tearing them apart on the pick-and-roll and it will be something the Nets will have to be prepared to adjust to in Game 3.

Offensively, the Nets made things a bit too easy for the 76ers in the third quarter. They looked for the 3-pointer or they looked to drive.

When Brooklyn is at its best, the openings at the arc create themselves with the movement of the offense, particularly when the Nets can get the ball into the paint and kick it back out. There was little of that in the third quarter as Philadelphia took control of the game.

The 76ers can create some problems with their length defensively. Ben Simmons is huge for a guard at 6-foot-10, Joel Embiid and Boban Marjanovic have wingspans that would make a pterodactyl jealous and Jimmy Butler has always had a solid nose for passing lanes.

But as the game started to get away from them, the ball-handlers for Brooklyn got a bit locked in on getting to the rim and missed some chances to kick the ball out to open shooters.

Would it have stopped the 76ers? Doubtful. Once Philadelphia got on a roll, the Nets were going to have a hard time slowing it down. But they might have been able to prevent that opening run from getting to 21-2 and perhaps given themselves a chance to recompose themselves.

Instead, the game just got away from them. It was one of those times we were given a harsh dose of reality — this is still a very young team and occasionally they will go haywire when they get punched in the mouth too often.