NEW YORK — Jahlil Okafor returned to action after missing the last two games with a sore knee to score 14 points and grab five rebounds in 20 minutes during the Sixers' 92-91 loss against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon.
Okafor last played on Oct. 10 in Albany, New York, and was on a minutes restriction Sunday. It was just the third time the Sixers’ top draft pick had played alongside Nerlens Noel in the preseason.
The pair worked well together on the offensive end with Noel assisting on three of Okafor’s five field goals and Okafor getting his lone assist on an alley-oop pass to Noel on a two-on-one break.
Turning point
Leading by two points at the half, the Nets went on a 16-4 run to open the third quarter. Thad Young scored four points in the final 22 seconds of the second quarter to give the Nets a lead they would never give up.
Young scored 10 points during the Nets’ 20-4 stretch.
The Sixers tied the game with 3:03 left, but they had two chances to take the lead in the final 36.2 seconds. JaKarr Sampson lost the ball off his leg as he drove to the basket for a probable dunk and Hollis Thompson threw it out of bounds when looking for Noel on the high post with six seconds to go.
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Filling it up
Noel led the Sixers with 15 points and nine rebounds, but went just 3 for 6 from the foul line. Noel also led the Sixers with four assists. Okafor scored his 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting.
Thompson came off the bench to score 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting and Robert Covington added 11.
The Nets were led by 24 points from Brook Lopez on 7-for-16 shooting with nine boards.
Point guard-a-palooza
Pierre Jackson played for the second straight game along with T.J. McConnell and Scottie Wilbekin in the battle for the back-up point-guard spot.
McConnell started the game and had six points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. He had just one assist. Jackson played just 11 minutes, contributing a basket and four rebounds.
Wilbekin scored 11 points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, in 22 minutes. He shot 3 for 6 from three-point range.
Rest up
Isaiah Canaan, Christian Wood and Jerami Grant got the afternoon off for rest, joining injured players Tony Wroten, Kendall Marshall, Carl Landry and Nik Stauskas on the sidelines.
Familiar faces
Former Sixer Young started the game for the Nets and scored 15 points with 10 rebounds in 32 minutes. The Sixers traded Young to Minnesota before the start of last season and the he was traded again to Brooklyn at the deadline. During the offseason, Young signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Nets.
Thomas Robinson, who played part of last season with the Sixers, scored seven points. Episcopal Academy grad Wayne Ellington started and scored six points in 28 minutes while Chester, Pennsylvania native Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored a basket in 12 minutes.
Up next
The Sixers are in the practice gym until Friday night when they face the Celtics in Manchester, New Hampshire, in the preseason finale Friday night. After that, the season opens for real on Oct. 28 in Boston.