The Philadelphia 76ers will host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night. The two teams with matching records will have the opportunity to either try to get into the final Play-In spot or improve their draft position. Despite seemingly being set to tank, the Nets may be in a position to make the Play-In tournament as they’re 6-2 over their last eight games, while the Sixers are riding a six-game losing streak.
Sixers game information
Who: Brooklyn Nets (20-35) at Philadelphia 76ers (20-35)
When: 7:30 p.m. EST
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA League Pass, YES Network
Latest on the Sixers
Again, the Sixers are in the midst of a six-game losing streak, most recently being blown out by the Boston Celtics in their first game back from the All-Star break. The team, despite having a “healthy” Paul George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey on the court, looked like they had no clue what they should be doing during the game.
Against their division rivals and the defending champs at that, the Sixers should have been fired up or, at the very least, ready to play since they had no one at the All-Star weekend. What took place was one of the most embarrassing losses of the season.
The Sixers, for some reason, have set themselves up as a team that loves to shoot three-pointers, yet they’re one of the worst teams in the league at doing so. Against the Celtics, they shot just 20.5%, going 8-39 from beyond the arc, and provided a nonstop barrage of them despite having a poor night shooting. There doesn’t seem to be any change to this strategy, as they’ve been a poor shooting team all season, and yet they continue to do it night after night.
Embiid, Maxey, and George scored just 48 points combined in the loss to the Celtics. Embiid, for his part, took just nine shots on the night and sat for the entirety of the fourth quarter. After the game, he discussed having to “fix the problem” and not being his dominant self this season.
Words aren’t enough anymore. From management, ownership, coaches, and players, it’s all just a bunch of nonsense anymore as the team is not good, they’re not playing well, they’re still hurting, and they’re not being coached well. The season, despite being just a game and a half out of the Play-In tournament, is a loss and shouldn’t move forward with Embiid nor George in the lineup.
Latest on the Nets
Here come the Nets, into Philly to take on a team that isn’t playing anywhere close to what was expected at the start of the season, and they’re 6-2 in their last eight games. The team has itself in a position to sneak into the Play-In tournament if they keep up what they’ve been doing. They also don’t have much of an intimidating schedule for the next two weeks, which should keep them winning games and moving closer to securing a spot in the postseason.
With leading scorer Cam Thomas still sidelined with a hamstring injury and DeAngelo Russell also out for the matchup against the Sixers, the team should be feeling like it could be a tough game. The team still has Nic Claxton, Cameron Johnson, Keon Johnson, Zaire Williams, and Jalen Wilson, who’ve been providing the team with quality minutes as they’ve faced some injuries lately.
The Nets aren’t a great three-point shooting team, they’re not a great defensive team, and they’re near the bottom of the league in offense, but what they’ve been doing is getting timely buckets and stops to keep them winning games despite having a rough loss to the Cavaliers on Thursday. The team, even missing two of their best players, can still surprise the Sixers and leave town with a win.
What to watch for tonight
The Nets are coming into the game, missing some key players on the court, while the Sixers seem to be missing their key players mentally. The Sixers, this season and especially lately, look like a lost team. The coach is supposed to provide that direction, but it’s not happening.
The prevailing idea in the city is that they should just shut down Embiid and George, allow them extra time to get healthy for next season, and if they lose enough games, they would be able to retain their first-round pick in this year’s draft. If the luck the Sixers have is any indication, they’d do all of that and have their pick fall to seventh.
The team needs to have a win here if they truly believe that they can get to the Play-In tournament and have a deep run in the playoffs. They don’t need a win; they need a dominant win. They have to shoot well, play quality defense, and show the Nets that they’re, by far, the better team. Whether that happens or not is up to them. With the play we’ve seen of late, it just doesn’t seem likely.
George is taking injections in his injured hand in order to keep playing, which is doing him nor the team any good, despite the effort to be out there. Maxey is, again, looking like he’s lost some of the enthusiasm he’s shown throughout his career while playing. He can’t be blamed; the team is a mess, and they’re leaning on him to carry them while their other stars just sit out.
Embiid is the big key to this puzzle. The former MVP started to look a little like his old self back in December but then missed most of the past two months. He has not been healthy once this whole season and has surprised fans and players alike by saying he probably needs surgery immediately following Daryl Morey’s statement to the contrary. He’s looked disinterested and out of touch with the team while on the court, and that’s not how leaders lead.
This game could go either way, but the Sixers should get one dominant win over a lower-level team, and that will come tonight. It’s easy to look good against teams that don’t possess the talent that the Sixers do. They’ll show up and show out, again providing a false hope to fans and moving forward with the false narrative that “look what we can do”, which everyone is starting to see through. It speaks volumes that they would win a game like tonight, as they don’t even seem to be able to lose correctly.
Prediction
Sixers 128 – Nets 101
