By: Kylan Watson

Fresh off of beating the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday Afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Brooklyn Nets tonight for the third game of four against each other. Both teams traded blows throughout this contest, but the Nets used a late game scoring explosion from Dennis Schroder to beat Philly 112-107.

Unlike Sunday against the Mavericks Philly started this game off hot they cashed in on the high percentage opportunities created off their ball movement. This offensive explosion put the Nets on their heels early in the game. Kelly Oubre Jr. took full advantage of the increase in scoring opportunities in the absence of Tyrese Maxey ( concussion symptoms) and Joel Embiid (knee injury). He scored 30 points in the contest and made Brooklyn pay for playing him way too aggressively. Oubre Jr. would attack the basket and get on points on the board when the Sixers offense started to sputter late in the game. He will continue to be an important player for Philly especially in this stretch without Maxey and Embiid. Oubre Jr. will need to score more points and not just settle for three-pointers. He is at his best when he attacks the basket it opens up the floor for his game and teammates.  Oubre Jr. will need to put up at least 25 plus points a night now for the Sixers to survive the next few games without Maxey and Embiid. If he can play like he did tonight the Sixers will be in good shape to stay in fifth place in the loaded Eastern Conference

Despite the Oubre Jr. offensive explosion, the Nets were able to battle back in this game. Thanks to a fourth quarter explosion from Dennis Schroder  who could not be stopped in that period. He scored 20 points in the contest and made some big buckets late in the game to help the Nets retake the lead and win this game.  Unfortunately, for the Sixers the offense went cold at the worst time and they could not hit enough shots to stay ahead of the Nets.

The Sixers will now prepare to face the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow night. They will need to play better defense on Desmond Bane and the rest of Memphis’ shooters than they did tonight. Philly played way too aggressively on the Nets tonight and gave up many easy buckets, allowing Bane to get too many easy opportunities could be disastrous for the Sixers. They will need to communicate, stick to their defensive assignments, and hold the Grizzlies to one offensive possession. Additionally, they will need to continue to cash in on the high percentage shot opportunities created off their ball movement. This will be even more important without Maxey, so everyone will need to step up for the Sixers offense to continue to be a threat against their opponents. If they can implement these things into their game plan they can get their 36^th victory of the season Memphis tomorrow night.