Brooklyn’s 118-107 loss to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night was just the start of a five-game stretch of games against some of the league’s top team. The Jazz came into Brooklyn as one of the league’s hottest teams, second in the Western Conference, and stretched their winning streak to 10 games with the win.
The Nets are in Philadelphia on Wednesday night to complete a back-to-back, the first of two games against the Sixers in six days. In between, they’ll host the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. The Bucks are 35-6, the league’s best record. Then the Los Angeles Lakers (33-7) come to Barclays Center on Thursday, Jan. 23.
So in the space of 10 days, the Nets will face both conference leaders, plus the team with the league’s longest winning streak.
“I love it,” said Kyrie Irving. “As a competitor, you want to have these tests at this point in the season where it’s not just about kind of running a team out of the gym or a below .500 team or anything like that. It’s really about making your mark and setting the standards you want heading into All-Star break. I look that far ahead. Games that we’ve got to get and this was a game that we technically had to get, but it was a good test and now we go into Philly. I think that we’ll be in better position as well when we get a few guys back. We’ve just got to weather the storm. But you���re absolutely right. We’re heading into another competitive stretch, and me as one of the leaders of the team I look forward to that and I’ve got to be even more efficient, even more communicative on the defensive end and I feel like we’ll be in great position.
IRVING OFF TO FAST START IN RETURN
After making 10-of-11 shots and scoring 21 points in 20 minutes on Sunday in his first game since Nov. 14, Kyrie Irving scored 32 points Tuesday night against Utah, along with a season-high 11 assists.
Over the two games, Irving is shooting a combined 22-for-30, or 73.3 percent.
“I feel good,” said Irving. “That’s a biggie. Just want to continue to feel good. I think being out for those 25 games or 26 games really gave me time to really slow down and get healthy and really put an emphasis on getting my body to where I needed to get to. Early on in the season, I had three broken bones in my face and I got hit again in China. Had a short preseason. My first preseason game was in Toronto. I played one preseason game and just had to make up that time and I think that’s what attributed to me having my shoulder impingement is just really trying to make up lost time. Now where I am is just trying to stay even-keeled, be as healthy as I can be and just be with these guys and continue to get better.”
ABOUT THE SIXERS
The Nets beat the Sixers 109-89 in their initial meeting of the season at Barclays Center on Dec. 15. Philadelphia is 25-16 after dropping its last two games. Center Joel Embiid, Philadelphia’s leading scorer (23.4 points) and rebounder (12.3 rebounds) has missed the last three games after tearing a ligament in his left hand against Oklahoma City on Jan. 6 and undergoing surgery.
The Sixers’ offense bucks league trends a little bit with a focus inside the 3-point arc. They’re 25th in the NBA in 3-point attempts (30.1) and ninth 2-point attempts per game (57.7), and they lead the league in post-ups per game (13.5) by a huge margin, nearly five more per game than No. 2 San Antonio (8.7). But that’s largely a function of league’s premier post player, with Embiid leading the league with 8.0 post-ups per game, and he’s not available right now. So they’ve been taking a few more threes per game (32.3) in the three games the center has been out.
Ben Simmons is fifth in the league in assists (8.4) and first in steals (2.2), while also averaging 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Tobias Harris averages 19.3 points and 6.7 rebounds, while Josh Richardson averages 15.7 points.