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A tough home loss on Tuesday night to a Utah team that’s won 10 games in a row now results in the Nets going to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers and then come home to play the Bucks, 76ers again, and then the Lakers.
Rough stretch.
But, Kyrie Irving is up for the challenge.
The 76ers are faltering a bit, losers of two straight and 6 of their last 10. They’ll be without Joel Embiid for this one, but not without plenty of talent.
WHO: Brooklyn Nets (18-21) at Philadelphia 76ers (25-16)
WHEN: 7:00 PM EST
WHERE: YES Network + ESPN (tv), WFAN (radio)
Somebody wanna go help Al Horford? The big guy has had a rough first year in Philadelphia as questions about his fit next to Embiid and role in the offense have dominated the focus surrounding him. He’s still a good player, but it hasn’t translated so far. Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan are hoping that his struggles continue tonight. Allen in particular is hoping to bounce back from last night when he was thoroughly outplayed by Utah’s Rudy Gobert. Allen will need to do a lot better than the two rebounds he collected last night if Brooklyn wants to snag the road win.
For the first time in a while, the 76ers aren’t near the bottom of the league in turnover rate. Even as they got out of “The Process” years, Philly was among the worst at taking care of the ball. This year, they’re up to 18th in turnover rate, a dramatic improvement. It hasn’t translated to that much offensive success yet, but once they get fully healthy, maybe that will change.
For more on the 76ers, check out Liberty Ballers.
Despite the two straight losses (and six straight on the road), it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for the Sixers. Josh Richardson was just named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He has scored at least 23 points in three of his last four games, as he continues to take on even more of the ball-handling duties in the half court, with Ben Simmons working more as a roll man. Matisse Thybulle has begun shaking the rust off after his knee injury, finally making his first field goals and 3-pointer in his third game back Monday night. More crucially, with the team back home, no one has to rely on Matisse to feed them.
The Sixers have slid into sixth place in the Eastern Conference, certainly a place no one expected them to be at the halfway mark of the season. With a few winnable games upcoming, tonight would be an appropriate time to time to turn the tide and get the good vibes flowing back into this 2019-20 campaign.