Nets Unleash Their Best Haymaker: A Defining Win Over 76ers in Game 3 of Eastern Conference Finals

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets needed more than a win. They needed a statement, a definitive victory that would remind them of their potential and send a message to the rest of the NBA.

More than anything, they needed to make the Philadelphia 76ers think.

The terms of this Eastern Conference final series have yet to be decided, and the home team has won every game. Kevin Durant reminded everyone the 76ers are a formidable opponent and beating them once doesn’t make a series.

But beating them soundly, in a way they hadn’t suffered defeat since the start of the season, has to put doubt in the minds of the favored 76ers.

If nothing else, there’s now a belief in the Nets locker room, because they got back to being themselves.

That’s what seemed crystal clear in the Nets' 129-109 thrashing of the 76ers on Saturday night, as the Nets stopped trying to be the team that had struggled against Philadelphia and threw their own “fastball,” in the words of Nets head coach Steve Nash.

Or, perhaps, throwing their best haymaker.

“We don't feel psychologically disadvantaged when we step out on the floor,” Nash said. “We just had to kind of keep finding a better game within ourselves. We hadn't really played our best basketball. Tonight we put it all together.”

They were 14 for 34 from 3-point range after being 8 for 34 and 9 for 34 (26 percent) in Games 1 and 2, respectively. And they held Joel Embiid to perhaps his worst game of the season, as he scored just 18 with six rebounds and was hounded all night.

That’s the formula, if there is one here — protect the ball and get good shots, play physical defense and give extra attention to Embiid in the half-court.

He won’t have many nights like this moving forward, but a game like this can erase the stench from the two stinkers and replenish a team’s belief in itself.

“I didn't sense any loss of confidence from our team,” Nash said. “I sensed frustration that we hadn't played well, and, you know, hadn't shot the ball well.”

Conversely, Durant wasn’t lacking for confidence — as if we could ever imagine such a thing — and it seemed to permeate to his teammates. He was more physical and finally, he and his teammates hit open shots after two puzzling performances in Philadelphia.

He took the game to Ben Simmons, hitting four 3-pointers and getting to the glass early as the Nets led by 20 after the first quarter and were never threatened. Durant finished with his best conference finals game, scoring 38 with 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

“He knew that we needed that type of start from our defense, and he brought it,” Nash said. “That's what we need him to do, and that's when he does it, it takes us to another level. I thought that's what was really, really big in the first quarter, he got a couple of those steals. He was all over the place.”

Veteran point guard Kyrie Irving said during the time the Nets had off in waiting for the winner of the 76ers-Boston Celtics series, they put in two zone defenses similar to what the Celtics used that gave Philadelphia trouble. It led to indecision, overthinking and the Nets looking out of sorts as it wasn’t their game, it was someone else’s playbook.

“It was brand new to us. Some guys were slow in rotations. But we’re more a man-to-man team,” Irving said. “Just do what we do better, be more locked in defensively on our man-to