Brooklyn Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers 12-18-16
Time: Sunday December 18, 2016, 6:00 PM ET
Venue: Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA
TV: YES Network
Projected Starters:
Brooklyn: Isaiah Whitehead, Sean Kilpatrick, Bojan Bogdanovic, Trevor Booker, Brook Lopez
Philadelphia: Sergio Rodriguez, Gerald Henderson, Robert Covington, Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor
Absences:
Brooklyn: Chris McCullough, Spencer Dinwiddie
Philadelphia: Ben Simmons, Jarryd Bayless, Hollis Thompson
Jeremy Lin returned to action last night against the Orlando Magic. In 20 minutes, Lin came away with 17 points and three assists on 7-13 shooting. As mentioned in the Magic’s recap, Lin just did not seem comfortable or himself.
Lin looks to get himself and the Brooklyn Nets back into form against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are 6-20 on the season and sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division and the Conference. Brooklyn, at 7-18, is not far behind, though. Dare I say, battle for the basement?
Joel Embiid has been a worthy investment by the Sixers. Embiid is averaging over 17 points per game and over seven rebounds a game. On top of that, the big man is averaging 2.5 blocks per game. This is all coming after missing the last two-three years of basketball time due to a foot injury.
Jahlil Okafor is the center for the Sixers and, while he may be slightly disappointing, he is very talented. It will be fun to see him and Brook Lopez go at it. Lopez is a ‘soft’ defender and Okafor can be aggressive. Okafor, though, can be aggressive on defense too. This is why Brooklyn needs to feed the ball down low.
If Brooklyn can avoid the temptation of shooting long ball after long ball and start to slash to the rim and move the ball around, they should find success against this Sixers team. Make their dominant big men work down low and force them to foul.
If Jeremy Lin plays solid minutes and plays extraordinary, lets say, maybe he will start to get more minutes sooner than later. And maybe, in turn, he gets his starting spot back in the process, too? This should be a good game for both Jeremy Lin and the Brooklyn Nets as a whole, just have to keep Joel Embiid at bay.