The Philadelphia 76ers posted their second straight 50-win season this year, and they can win a playoff series for the second straight season against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. Winning a first round series was not the end goal of Sam Hinkie’s process, but this is still a young team learning to play together and it’s all about baby steps. Philadelphia is a sizable favorite to close out it series with Brooklyn in five games.
This game will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on April 23, 2019, and the game will be broadcast on TNT.
NBA Opening Lines at BookMaker.eu
Philadelphia 76ers -8 vs. Brooklyn Nets, O/U 230
Series Recap
Brooklyn stunned Philadelphia in the first game of this series. It took time for D’Angelo Russell to get going, but he and Spencer Dinwiddie eventually led the Nets to an upset in Game 1. Since then, it’s been all Sixers. Everyone got involved in Game 2, with Joel Embiid posting a double-double and Ben Simmons securing a triple-double, and Simmons, Tobias Harris, and JJ Redick went wild in Game 3. Game 4 was close, but Joel Embiid’s 31 points and 16 rebounds carried the day in four-point win for the Sixers.
Injury Report
The Nets won’t have Allen Crabbe for the rest of the season, and Ed Davis is a game time decision. Davis is not a starter, but he is a physical big body that can bring size off the bench and an attitude to the floor.
Philadelphia has no one listed on its injury report, so it looks like Joel Embiid will play despite lingering knee issues. He missed Game 3 of the series, but he has been a force in the other three games.
Matchup to Watch
The battle between Embiid and Jared Dudley has been a good one. Dudley is a player that likes to stir the pot and will instigate in an attempt to get an opponent out of rhythm. He did just that in Game 4, leading to both Dudley and Jimmy Butler being tossed from the game, with Joel Embiid drawing a Flagrant 1 while avoiding an ejection.
After the game, Embiid did not mince words. He called Dudley a “nobody”, and both Butler and Embiid laughed off the incident in the postgame press conference. Dudley will likely try to get under Embiid’s skin once again in Game 5, especially after Embiid declared the series “over” on Monday morning.
Player to Watch
Embiid takes Philadelphia to another level when he is on the court. The 76ers are an average to above average team without him in the lineup, but the two-time All-Star gives them something else. He is one of the most dominant big men in the game today, and his big issue has been staying healthy. He has battled injuries for most of his career, yet he has largely been healthy this season and showed how important he is in Game 4.
Game 5 Preview
This isn’t a great Nets team, but they do have three players that can take over in small spurts. D’Angelo Russell, Caris LeVert, and Spencer Dinwiddie are all capable of creating on offense, and that was the key to their unlikely playoff run this season.
However, the Nets are not great on the defensive side of the ball, and good shooting teams can pick them apart. Brooklyn is doing what it can by forcing Simmons to play in a half-court set as much as possible, but the Sixers have so many weapons they can use to attack you.
Prediction
Provided Embiid plays and is relatively healthy, I don’t see Philadelphia losing Game 5. The strength of this team is that one or two of its shooters can have an off night considering how much talent they have on the wings, but they need Embiid to be solid in the middle. Given his recent comments, I think he will back up his talk with a big performance on Tuesday night.
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