Philadelphia 76ers vs. Brooklyn Nets Preview on Wednesday
On Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers return home off of a clean sweep of their West Coast road trip, as they take on the Brooklyn Nets, who they lead by one game in the Eastern Conference standings.
In their last time out, Philadelphia pulled off a narrow win against the Sacramento Kings, doing so without James Harden or Joel Embiid, who were scratched hours ahead of tip-off.
Despite their absences, the Sixers came out on top of the Kings, in part due to a 21-point second-half master class by Tyrese Maxey, who was cold for the first half of the game, shooting with 33 percent accuracy from the field.
Beyond Maxey, other reserve players stepped up with Montrezl Harrell, De'Anthony Melton, Shake Milton, and Georges Niang all putting up double-digit numbers.
With their win against Sacramento, the Sixers have pulled into sole possession of the second seed in the Eastern Conference, currently sitting three and a half games back from the Boston Celtics and four games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Embiid could miss his second game in a row as he is listed as questionable ahead of Wednesday night's match, with Furkan Korkmaz being listed as out with a sore right shoulder.
On the other side of the ticket sits the Brooklyn Nets, who also come into Wednesday well-rested after a hard-fought victory against the Golden State Warriors.
Kyrie Irving, Nic Claxton, and Joe Harris all came up big for Jacque Vaughn, combining for 51 points in the second half, nailing the Warrior's coffin, 120-116.
Kevin Durant remains out as he starts to return from an MCL sprain suffered in early January in a match against the Miami Heat, with Day'Ron Sharpe listed as questionable with lower back soreness.
Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.
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