Nets still have something worth fighting for despite being down 0-3 to 76ers

Dorian Finney-Smith has been here before.

His Dallas Mavericks trailed 0-3 in their Western Conference Finals matchup against the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors last season.

Facing elimination — more specifically, a sweep — the Mavericks didn’t lay down. They secured a 119-109 victory over the Warriors to extend the series to five games.

“You just have to go out there and show up and try to win and not just get out there,” Finney-Smith said after practice at the HSS Training Facility in Industry City on Friday. “You know, we’re down 3-0. We could sit around and mope around or you can come out there and compete. We are still doing what we love and have to take advantage of that opportunity.”

The Nets find themselves in similar, treacherous waters, though they don’t have a potential trip to the NBA Finals at stake as motivation.

Thursday’s five-point loss to the Sixers put a sweep on the table in Game 4 at Barclays Center on Saturday afternoon in the Nets’ first-round playoff matchup.

The Nets, however, don’t appear ready to go down without a fight. As outmatched as they are against a Sixers team boasting a former league MVP, this season’s presumptive MVP and a wealth of secondary and tertiary scoring options, the Nets still believe they can win a game.

In fact, they believe they’ve come close to cracking the code.

They have kept Joel Embiid in check all series and have forced the Sixers to win “by special teams.” Aside from Game 1′s 20-point blowout, this series has been close.

The Nets played well in Game 2 before the wheels fell off in a 12-point loss, and on Thursday, they led by five with two minutes left in the fourth quarter before late-game offense woes and a scoring barrage from Sixers’ star Tyrese Maxey left another mark in the loss column.

“What’d they score? 102 points yesterday? Are you kidding me? And 96 the game before that? Are you kidding me?” head coach Jacque Vaughn said after Friday’s practice. “And so we’ve done a lot of good things. I think that’s what I want to hang our hat on is that we put ourselves in position to win. What were we up five with two minutes to go? Maxey hits the three. So we can do it. We have done it, and it can be done again.”

History, of course, isn’t on Brooklyn’s side.

No team in NBA history has ever won four straight to overcome a 0-3 playoff series deficit. In fact, only five teams in American profession sports have ever overcome such a playoff deficit: four hockey teams — the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs; the 1975 Islanders; the 2010 Philadelphia Flyer;s and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings — and one baseball team: the 2004 Boston Red Sox, in a series against the Yankees.

“I told the players you have a choice to show up and, so I’m looking forward to seeing who responds,” Vaughn said. “I think it says a lot about being in a situation like this and the character that’s being built at this time of the year. And, like I said, this has been a process of me learning a new group and having a relationship.

“And, I told the guys: We didn’t give up last night; we grew up. So this part of it right here is an opportunity for them to grow up and show up tomorrow, and have a choice to do it.”

Cameron Johnson has also been part of deep playoff runs. He was a starter for the 2020-21 Phoenix Suns team that went to the NBA Finals and lost after blowing a 2-0 series lead to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks.

He was also a member of last year’s Suns team that got bounced in Game 7 by Luka Doncic’s (and Finney-Smith’s) Mavericks.

“There’s a desperation,” Johnson said of playing in elimination games. “You just got to play hard and learn from mistakes and just understand that tomorrow’s a new day.

“Tomorrow’s a new day with a million possibilities, and we’ll do everything in our power to make sure each one goes our way.”

The pill, however, comes in the form of a reality check: Embiid has scored fewer points by the game, but the Sixers have still found ways to win.

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“That’s the toughest part, right? We’re hitting certain goals that we had in mind for the series. And realistically, we should have been able to spin them into at least 1 or 2 wins right?” Johnson said after Friday’s practice. “But that’s not reality, and that’s where the frustration piece kicks in, but you have to look at it: We’ve got a maximum of four games left and a minimum of one, so I’ll be darned if we’re not gonna give it our all every possession.”

Johnson said the circumstances — win or go home — don’t leave much room for overthinking.

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“Frustration really bothers you when there’s a long road ahead, right? But when the road is seemingly could be much short, it’s no time to be frustrated,” he continued. “It’s more time to embrace the opportunity, play hard and make their lives really hard.”

Vaughn still has belief his team will show up.

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The wins haven’t gone Brooklyn’s way, but the team is largely satisfied with the way they’ve acquitted themselves this series.

“I think it just really supports and kind of refines how you think of team basketball,” Vaughn said on Friday. “I looked at all the rosters from all the teams that are playing right now. Right now, currently, we don’t have a guy that’s been an All-Star or former All-Star, but yet we held a team to 96 and 102. So that ability to play as a team and give ourselves a chance to win, extremely excited about where we are right now and what our future looks like.”

Vaughn is confident his team won’t lay down in Game 4.

“I definitely am,” he said. “Just the way these guys are, and the way they love playing you game and really the pride they have in representing the why. The why they play this thing.

“So definitely confident.”