The Sixers will look to close out the series at home in Game 5 against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday evening. A Nets starting lineup change in Game 4 (adding Caris LeVert and Jared Dudley) gave Brooklyn a lift. Joel Embiid is officially listed as probable (left knee soreness), while Ed Davis is questionable (right ankle sprain).
When: 8 p.m., Sixers Pregame Live starts at 7 p.m., Sixers Talk starts at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the MyTeams app.
Here are three storylines to watch:
Desperation
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Despite dropping the past three, the Brooklyn Nets know that they can beat this Sixers squad, as they still have their confidence from Game 1 at Wells Fargo Center to fall back on. On top of that, the Nets have absolutely nothing to lose in this game. The hungrier and more desperate team should be viewed as a dangerous one.
Keep your eye on JoJo
We said going into Game 4 to expect physicality, and the game lived up to its hype, seeing both Dudley and Jimmy Butler get ejected, while Embiid received a Flagrant-1. The subplot to the physicality is that Embiid already has two flagrant points, and if Embiid receives two more (which could come in the form of two Flagrant-1s or one Flagrant-2), Embiid will be facing a one-game suspension. Going back to the Nets having nothing to lose, expect them to be very aware of this.
If Nets get hot from three…
NBA
We all know that a lot of what the Nets do offensively is predicated on the three-point line, and the Nets have really struggled from deep. Joe Harris, who led the NBA in 3-point percentage this season (47.4 percent) has not hit a three in three games (0-12). Credit to the Sixers’ defense (and especially JJ Redick), but imagine if he got one or two of his threes to knock down in Game 4…we might not be talking about the Sixers closing it out in Game 5.
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