Sixers prepare for Nets, a possible first-round playoff preview
“Brooklyn has always bothered us. Their style of play has bothered us,” Sixers coach Brett Brown says.
The 76ers’ game against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night will have a little more weight to it than the run-of-the-mill regular-season contest. In addition to having playoff seeding implications for both teams, it could also be a preview of a first-round Eastern Conference matchup.
If the postseason started today, the Sixers and Nets would play an opening-round series and it would probably be tougher than the Sixers would like.
“Brooklyn has always bothered us. Their style of play has bothered us,” coach Brett Brown said Wednesday after Sixers practice in Camden. “Multiple pick-and-roll players that can shoot threes really effectively, those type of teams bother us."
It’s no secret that the Sixers have had problems against teams with a guard-heavy scoring roster that plays primarily through spread pick-and-rolls. The Nets have been at the top of that list.
The Nets blew out the Sixers, 122-97, in the teams’ first matchup of the season. Since the Jimmy Butler trade, the Sixers needed a buzzer-beating shot from him to win, 127-125, on Nov. 25, then lost a one-possession game on Dec. 12, 127-124.
With that knowledge and the continuing battle at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for playoff positioning, Thursday’s game has the chance to affect many things.
“Brooklyn, from style-of-play challenges to situation-in-the-standings challenges, it’s an important game,” Brown said.
Only one game separates the Nets, Detroit Pistons, and Orlando Magic, in sixth, seventh, and eighth places in the East, respectively. The Sixers (47-27) are sitting firmly in third, 4 1/2 games behind Toronto and two games ahead of Indiana, heading into the Pacers’ Wednesday night matchup at Oklahoma City. That third spot means opening the playoffs with a homecourt advantage, plus also likely avoiding the Celtics, a tough opponent, in that round.
“Respecting our opportunity to claim third spot, that’s important,” Brown said, adding that the team needs to own and fix what went wrong in two recent losses to the Hawks and Magic. “Find a way to secure the third spot through our defense, through our scouting reports, through some things offensively.”
As much as the Sixers head into this game wanting to recover from their mishaps in Atlanta and Orlando, the Nets are coming in with their own level of desperation. Thursday will be the finale of a seven-game road trip that has not gone well for them. They are 2-4 through six games, including a double-overtime loss to the Trail Blazers on Monday that was overshadowed by Portland center Jusuf Nurkic’s horrific leg injury.
Additionally, Brooklyn’s schedule is one of the most difficult in the league from here on out. After the Sixers, Brooklyn will play the Celtics, Bucks, Raptors, Bucks, Pacers, and Heat to finish the season, so every win is incredibly important.
As far as the Nets’ possibly being the Sixers’ first-round opponent, Tobias Harris said that, no matter the opponent, the first round will be difficult.
“We can possibly see them, but, at the end of the day, whoever we see in the first round is going to present a challenge for us,” Harris said. “We’re going to have to be ready for big-time basketball with whatever matchup we have, whether it’s the Nets, Boston, Detroit, whoever.”
Injury update
Ben Simmons returned to practice after missing Monday’s game in Orlando.
James Ennis (bruised right quadriceps) and Mike Scott (lower back tightness) were partial participants in Wednesday’s practice, with their status for Thursday unknown.