Game 59 Preview: Philadelphia 76ers (29-27) at Nets (21-37)

Lou Williams always seems to kill the Nets when these two teams play. Wait, who doesn’t?

UPDATE: Gerald Wallace is out tonight with his left hamstring strain. Gerald Green is also a game-time decision with ora surgery, according to Nets beat reporters.

The Nets look to spoil the playoff run of the Philadelphia 76ers as they try to win their fourth straight game at the Prudential Center in Newark. These teams play three times total in the next two weeks, games that are crucial for the 76ers who are tied with the Knicks for 7th in the East and are only one and a half games up on the 8th-place Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets are playing well of late and the 76ers not so much, so this game could be interesting. Don’t just count the Nets out because of their record; they have been playing great basketball of late and would like nothing more than to ruin a divisional rival’s chances of making the playoffs.

Background on Philadelphia

Without a main star player to focus on, the 76ers can be considered a scoring-by-committee team that doesn’t live or die with the efforts of one player but instead with the efforts of the team collectively. They also have a good bench, highlighted by their leading scorer, Louis Williams, and third-leading scorer, Thaddeus Young. Since the Nets are defensively-challenged, they could run into trouble in having to defend the roughly 10 76ers players who consistently score and get significant playing time for Philly.

Previous Game

On Sunday, the fading 76ers got absolutely blown out by an energized Celtics squad that seemed to want the win more, which greatly increased Boston’s chances of winning the tightly-contested Atlantic Division title. Simply put, Boston took control of this game by hitting an absurd amount of their shots, to the tune of 59 percent. The Celtics shot nearly 21 percent better from the field than Philly which plays into the recent offensive struggles that the 76ers have had during their recent losing spell.

Also on Sunday, the Nets and the lowly Cavaliers played an exciting overtime game which ended up in a 122-117 Nets win. 10-day contract signee Lester Hudson went off from 3-point range for 26 points but was countered by former D-Leaguer Gerald Green with a near career-high of 32 points for the Nets. Down the stretch in overtime, the Cavs just didn’t have enough offense to stick with the Nets who executed wonderfully late in this one.

Probable Lineups

PHI- Holiday (PG), Turner (SG), Iguodala (SF), Brand (PF), Hawes (C)

NJN- D.Williams (PG), Brooks (SG), Green (SF), Humphries (PF), She. Williams (C)

Three Keys to a Nets Win

1. Embrace the spoiler role- Since the Nets are basically out of the Eastern Conference playoff race, the only thing they have to play for is knocking the teams they play out of the playoff picture. This could be true for Philly, which is tied with the Knicks for the 7th-seed and only one game up on Milwaukee in the 9th-seed. It would be nice for the Nets to deal a serious blow to the divisional rival 76ers by beating them, which they have a chance to do three times in the month of April alone.

2. Feed Green and Morrow- These two guys have been scoring points in bunches for the Nets off the bench in recent games and there is no reason why it shouldn’t continue. Give these guys the ball and let them do their work and what they do best; it’s awfully hard to stop.

3. Stack the paint- Philly isn’t a prolific 3-point shooting team and they get most of their points in the interior. The Nets, especially the bigs in Shelden and Hump, need to beef up inside and contest and block shots in addition to grabbing the rebounds that ensue.

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Game 59 Preview: Philadelphia 76ers (29-27) at Nets (21-37)

Alan Draper

Alan Draper

Alan Draper