The Philadelphia 76ers were mostly healthy and resting Joel Embiid when they rolled to a 24-point win in their last visit with the Brooklyn Nets several weeks ago.
Since the first meeting, the quick start has faded, the injuries are piling up and the 76ers attempt to stay above .500 Friday night when they visit Brooklyn for an NBA Cup game where both teams are already eliminated from knockout contention.
Philadelphia was 5-1 after it scored 73 points in the first half and cruised to a 129-105 victory over the Nets by shooting 52% and hitting 15 3-pointers. Since then, the 76ers are 4-7 in their past 11 and are attempting to bounce back from an ugly 144-103 home loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday when they allowed 80 points in the paint.
“Two or three times a season, you’re going to have games like this where just, like, everything goes wrong all of a sudden,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “You can never really explain it. Just like I told the guys, we’ve got to be better. Certainly not who we are out there tonight.”
Embiid sat out an eighth straight game with a right knee injury despite participating in the morning shootaround.
Paul George also sat out with an ankle injury after shooting 3 of 10 in Sunday’s 10-point loss to the Miami Heat. He has played three games this season after recovering from a knee injury and was listed as questionable for Friday.
Standout rookie VJ Edgecombe missed his second straight game with a strained left calf and is day-to-day. Philadelphia also lost Trendon Watford to a left adductor strain, and he will be out for at least two weeks, while Kelly Oubre Jr. will miss his sixth straight game with a knee injury.
Tyrese Maxey scored 20 against Orlando in a starting lineup also consisting of Dominick Barlow, Quentin Grimes, Andre Drummond and Justin Edwards. Maxey scored 26 in the first meeting in Brooklyn and has scored 20 in every game so far, including 54 at Milwaukee on Nov. 20.
The Nets are the NBA’s lone winless team at home and dropped to 0-8 when they fell behind for good in the second quarter of Monday’s 113-100 loss to the New York Knicks.
Despite falling short, the Nets continued to get strong performances from Noah Clowney, who followed up 22 points in Sunday’s loss at Toronto by scoring a career-high 31 and hitting a career-best seven 3-pointers on Monday.
Clowney has averaged 16.5 points and shot 36.8% from distance in 11 games since being moved into the starting lineup on Nov. 3.
“We’re playing through him,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “His presence was great, and I can see in his face how locked in he is, how his shot looks, and all those things. You’re starting to see the growth. I’m really, really proud of him.
Clowney’s big game occurred as the Nets shot a season-low 37.9% from the floor and 29.2% (14 of 48) from 3-point range, a showing that included Michael Porter Jr. going 1 of 9 from three while finishing with 16 points.
