The Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets are defying preseason expectations for differing reasons.
Predicted to contend for a high playoff seed, the 76ers are well under .500 heading into a Wednesday road game against the Brooklyn Nets, who are in their best stretch of a rebuilding season.
Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Nets this season but heads into the final game before the All-Star break a season-worst 13 games under .500 due to an inability to have Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George consistently available at the same time.
Barring a major turnaround in their remaining 29 games, the Sixers are on track to finish with their first losing record since the 2016-17 season, when they went 28-54.
Philadelphia is on a four-game losing streak, has dropped six of seven and is 6-14 in its past 20 games since Embiid scored 28 points in a 123-94 victory at Brooklyn on Jan. 4.
Embiid played in his 17th game Tuesday and compiled 27 points and 12 rebounds, but the Sixers wound up with a 106-103 home loss to the Toronto Raptors. Philadelphia fell behind 17-4 in the opening five minutes, recovered to lead at halftime but couldn’t come through with a tying or go-ahead basket in the last 90 seconds.
“The offense is pretty clunky right now,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said after his team shot 40.7 percent and fell to 6-24 when being held under 110 points.
Embiid, who has yet to appear in both ends of a back-to-back this season, may be out Wednesday. If Embiid sits again, the Sixers will lean on Maxey and George, assuming both are available.
Maxey was held to a season-low five points Tuesday but has scored at least 30 in eight of his past 10 games. After the Raptors game, Nurse seemed to think the guard was playing through an injury.
“I don’t really want to speculate too much before I talk to him,” Nurse said. “I have a feeling that there’s something. I hope not, but I think there might be something physically bothering him, so I just want to check (on) that.”
George finished with 14 points, and he has not scored 15 or more in his past five games.
Brooklyn’s blowout loss in the previous meeting with Philadelphia was part of a 1-12 skid that culminated in a seven-game losing streak.
Since the final game of the skid, the Nets are 5-1. In each of those victories, the Nets allowed fewer than 100 points and limited the opposition to 41 percent shooting or worse.
Brooklyn’s latest strong defensive showing was a 97-89 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. The Nets outscored the Hornets 51-35 in the second and third quarters to reach 19 wins, more than many preseason prognosticators anticipated would be their final total.
“We remember when that list came out. We definitely keep that in the back of our heads,” Brooklyn reserve Trendon Watford said. “They doubted us. Now, with one more game left before the break, we already passed what they had us at. So, shout out to the experts.”
Nic Claxton led six Brooklyn players in double figures on Monday with 16 points. Claxton has reached double figures in five of his past six games but is questionable for Wednesday with a right ankle sprain.
If Claxton is unavailable, Day’Ron Sharpe likely would start at center. Sharpe contributed 14 points and nine rebounds against Charlotte, and he is shooting 65.7 percent (44-for-67) over the past 11 games.
–Field Level Media
