PHILADELPHIA — The tank is in trouble.

Brooklyn isn’t just beating bad teams anymore. Now they’re beating good ones.

One game after blowing out Toronto, Michael Porter Jr. and his Nets earned an impressive road win, smothering the Sixers 114-106 before a salty sellout crowd of 19,746 at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

The Nets — who stayed percentage points ahead of Charlotte for sixth in the lottery odds — backed up drilling the fifth-place Raptors by winning at fourth-place Philadelphia. They held the Sixers to 40.7 percent shooting and 7-for-27 from deep, and Porter did the rest.

Porter had 25 of his game-high 28 points by intermission, the highest-scoring half of his career. And since an 0-7 start, the Nets are 9-12 — and 9-9 with Porter.

Michael Porter Jr. of the Brooklyn Nets shoots a 3-point basket during the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on December, 23, 2025 at the Wells Fargo Center. NBAE via Getty Images

“If teams keep (doubling) where they try to take me away, we’re going to win because we’ve got such capable players that can knock down shots at a high clip. We have competent guys that can put the ball on the floor and make plays, so teams really can’t just focus on me,” said Porter, who had a 4-point play and pointed at a heckler.

“It was some dude in the crowd. A couple of their fans were running their mouth, so I just pointed at them after I made the shot.”

Egor Dëmin had eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and five assists, while Nic Claxton added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

But it was the defense that made the difference. Terance Mann, Dëmin and Nolan Traore made life tough on Tyrese Maxey. The star came in averaging 31.7 points, but was held to 13 on 3-of-14 shooting.

Egor Demin of the Brooklyn Nets dribbles the ball during the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on December, 23, 2025 at the Wells Fargo Center. NBAE via Getty Images

“He just wasn’t in the flow. He was a little frustrated. Some things may have been getting in his way out there, so it might have flustered him a little,” said Claxton, who praised Porter’s gravity.

“That’s just what All-Stars do. They come out and they play at an extremely high level every single night. They demand double teams. And we’re getting better every day, easier for everybody else.”

Joel Embiid had 27 for Philadelphia, but the Nets led by as many as 19 and pulled away in the second half.

Nic Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets dribbles the ball during the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on December, 23, 2025 at the Wells Fargo Center. NBAE via Getty Images

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It was tied 27-all after one, with Porter having 14 points on 5 of 6 shooting while the rest of the Nets had combined for just 13 on 4 of 16 from the floor.

The Nets were clinging to a tenuous 70-65 edge after a tipin by Andre Drummond — his offensive rebounding was Philadelphia’s only effective offense — when Brooklyn seized control with a 19-7 run that included seven unanswered points.

Dëmin sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Maxey miss, the second completing a 4-point play to make it 77-65. On the other end, he was helping harass Maxey into having missed nine of his first ten attempts.

Tyrese Martin padded the lead to 89-72 on a 3 with 1:58 left in the third.

“(Porter) makes open shots, he makes contested shots, and he makes impossible shots. He was huge for us,” said Jordi Fernández, whose Nets shut down Maxey.

“We always had bodies in front. And we all know how special of a player he is and how disruptive he is. He can drive you crazy throughout a game because he’s that good. And today probably he didn’t have the impact.”