The Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets likely did not expect to be tied in the standings after 55 games. Yet, that’s exactly where the Atlantic Division rivals are heading into Saturday’s matchup in Philadelphia.
The Sixers entered this season with aspirations of contending for a title, but injuries and inconsistent play have derailed their plans. Likewise, the Nets sit at 20-35 as well, although they have flashed some bright spots in the midst of a rebuilding campaign.
Philadelphia is coming off its sixth straight loss – a 124-104 setback against the Boston Celtics on Thursday. Each member of the Sixers’ “Big Three” – Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George – was available, but the results didn’t translate.
Coach Nick Nurse’s team was dominated by Boston, which made 24 3-pointers and held Philadelphia to 8-of-39 shooting from long range. Embiid was limited to 15 points on 3-of-9 shooting and collected just three rebounds.
“I think we’re having some general movement issues – keeping up with the pace of the game, conditioning, rhythm, whatever it is,” Nurse said. “That’s a challenge for us. I’m hoping that (playing) a game gets us a little more in game shape.”
The Sixers certainly are running out of time to get in shape. They have 27 contests remaining and still are not within the top 10 seeds in the East. They are in real danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17 season.
“You have to have some urgency out there,” Maxey said. “You know that every game is going to be important for us. But at the end of the day, (this loss to Boston) happened, and you got to live with it. And you have to face it head on, and then worry about it tomorrow and fix what we need to fix and come out here on Saturday and play Brooklyn.”
The Nets have endured plenty of adversity of their own this season. Their leading scorer, Cam Thomas, remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. The team previously traded key veterans Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith and parted ways with Ben Simmons.
Most recently, D’Angelo Russell injured his right ankle in Thursday’s 110-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. His status for Saturday’s contest is uncertain.
Since acquiring Russell in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn is 8-9 with him in the lineup and 0-6 without him.
“Very (damaging),” Nets swingman Cam Johnson said of losing Russell. “Veteran leader of this team, keeps things calm and centered. So for him to go down, that’s tough. But I think we’ve got capable guys across the board.”
Against Cleveland, Brooklyn’s issues included 3-point shooting (10-of-38), free-throw shooting (11-of-19) turnovers (15) and an inability to contain former Net Jarrett Allen (16 points on 8-of-9 shooting with a season-high 20 rebounds).
“We all have to be better. That’s pretty simple,” said Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez. “What we’ve done is come back, own it, and go on to Philly. It’s going to be a good game.”
This is the fourth and final regular-season meeting between the teams. The Sixers won the first two by an average margin of 22 points before the Nets posted a 100-96 victory on Feb. 12 in the teams’ final game before the All-Star break.
