Fresh off another loss in Orlando, the Sixers lick their wounds to return home and take on one of the highest-profile teams in the NBA. Brooklyn comes into town riding a three-game winning streak, and currently jockeying for position in the upper half of the Eastern Conference. The Nets currently sit in 4th place, 2.5 games back of second-place New York and 2 games ahead of 5th-place Chicago. Brooklyn obviously wants to remain at least in 4th place and maintain home court advantage in the first round, but also sees the injuries piling up for the Knicks and feels the team can make a push for that second spot. Having won their first two meetings against the Sixers, including a 20-point laugher in the teams’ last game in January, Brooklyn likely views tonight’s game as nothing more than a bump in the road.
Brooklyn sports the second-highest payroll in the NBA behind Los Angeles, but generally overpaid for free agent talent and there are certainly between 5-10 rosters I would rather have. However, after a very slow start to the season that had people questioning whether his best days were behind him, former all-star Deron Williams has picked up his play of late, averaging 23.1 points on 47.2% shooting and 6.9 assists in his last 10 games. Also, surprisingly, Brook Lopez ranks 5th in the NBA in PER at 24.41, as he sports an efficient offensive game, averaging 18.8 ppg on 51.8 FG% and 76.5%. He’s also raised his level of play on the glass from prior seasons, averaging 7.1 rpg, almost respectable for a 7-footer but a vast improvement from the 5.9 rpg in 2011 and 3.6 rpg in his injury-shortened 2012 season.
Brooklyn sports the third best free throw rate differential in the league, getting to the line nearly seven times more per game than their opponent. They may benefit from some ‘star’ calls from the officials but it’s also a mentality the team has in getting to and finishing around the basket, led by Williams and Lopez. That aspect of the game could be a recipe for disaster who rank dead last in the league in that stat by a wide margin, with the opposition shooting almost eight more foul shots per game.
Keys to the Game:
- Keep Brooklyn off the offensive glass. Lopez averages 2.7 offensive rebounds per game and the Sixers’ old friend Reggie Evans leads the Nets at 2.9 orpg. In their last meeting, Evans grabbed 6 offensive boards on his way to a prototypical Reggie Evans line of 2 points, 23 rebounds.
- Help out Thad Young on the offensive end. The Nets don’t have an athletic shot-blocker on defense so I would look for him to have another productive outing, as well as Hawes to a lesser degree. However, Holiday and Turner need to get their acts together and provide some sort of assistance in the scoring department.
Prediction:
Although Brooklyn is a team of largely overpaid second-tier stars, they still have far more talent than Philadelphia. With the Nets entering play rested and the Sixers traveling on the second leg of a back-to-back, it’s hard to see Philadelphia pulling it together to earn the victory. The Sixers lose easily to further extend is losing streak.
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