The Sixers looking at the Nets as a formidable first-round foe

ATLANTA — The Brooklyn Nets have the 76ers’ attention.

While Brooklyn is a favorable opponent, the Sixers are adamant about not looking past their Atlantic Division foe.

“It’s going to be a good matchup,” Tobias Harris said of the upcoming first-round playoff series with the Nets. “They’re a good team — shooters, versatility. So we’ve got to be ready. An uptempo team as well. They got a lot of guys playing with a lot of confidence. So yeah, it’s going to be good.”

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The teams’ first-round pairing was clinched Friday night when the Nets (45-36) nabbed the Eastern Conference sixth seed with the Miami Heat’s loss to the Washington Wizards before their own victory over the Orlando Magic had ended. The Sixers (53-28) had locked up the No. 3 seed when the Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.

The Nets will entertain the Sixers in Sunday’s 1 p.m. regular-season finale at the Barclays Center. But with no postseason incentive, the Sixers will rest their top six players for the second straight game. Meanwhile, standout reserve Georges Niang is listed as questionable.

So it will be tough to get a feeling for the first-round matchup by watching Sunday’s tilt. The Sixers, however, have won this season’s previous three meetings.

They defeated the Nets, 115-106, on Nov. 22 in what was Ben Simmons’ first time playing at the Wells Fargo Center after being traded to Brooklyn.

Then they outlasted Brooklyn, 137-133, at home on Jan. 25. And the Sixers defeated the then-new-look Nets, 101-98, on Feb. 11 at the Barclays Center.

That came after Kyrie Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, Kevin Durant was sent to the Phoenix Suns, and Ben Simmons was no longer in the Nets’ starting lineup.

Former Villanova standout and Sixers draft pick Mikal Bridges has emerged as the Nets’ go-to player. The small forward is averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 rebounds since being acquired from Phoenix in a four-team trade on Feb. 9.

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“He’s good,” Harris said. “He’s ballin’. So he will be a big piece for them in the playoffs. We have to be able to make all of his looks tough.”

The Sixers selected Bridges with the 10th overall pick in the 2018 draft before trading him to the Suns for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-round pick.

“They’re a super talented team,” Niang said. “They got new pieces that haven’t been there all year, but they pose different challenges with their ability to go small and play fast. But they do a great job of moving the ball and shooting a lot of threes and playing fast.”

In addition to Bridges, the Nets acquired guard Cam Johnson from the Suns. They also received Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith from Dallas in exchange for Irving.

Late last month, the Nets shut down Simmons for the rest of the season. He hasn’t played since the Nets’ final game before the All-Star break because of a nerve issue in his back.

“Ben will not be joining us the rest of the year and through the playoffs,” coach Jacque Vaughn said at the time. “After consulting with our doctors, multiple specialists, he’s just going to begin a rehab program. Our doctors and the specialists feel and think that he’ll have a full recovery so that starts now.”