By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Brooklyn Nets in their last home game of 2025. Despite a dominant performance from Joel Embiid the Sixers just could not hit enough shots to stop Brooklyn tonight, thanks to a scorching offensive performance from Michael Porter Jr. who led Brooklyn to the 114-106 victory.

The Sixers were missing some significant pieces in this contest as VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, and Dominick Barlow all missed this game with an illness that is running through their locker room. However, for the first time in two weeks Joel Embiid was available to play and he made his presence felt throughout this game. He scored 27 points in this contest and if it was not for an injury scare that happened early in the third quarter where he got tangled up with Terrence Mann, he may have been able to lead the Sixers to a victory in this contest.

Embiid was one of the few Sixers players who had it working on all sides of the floor in this contest. Everything Philly does looks easier with him out on the floor, but they could not cash in on the high-percentage shooting opportunities created from his gravity. That was the difference in this contest the Nets were able to cash in on their easy shots and Philly could not.

Despite Embiid’s dominant performance tonight, Michael Porter Jr dragged Brooklyn to the finish line in this contest. He scored 28 points and made 5/12 of his three-point attempts in this contest. His three-point prowess led Brooklyn to their sixth victory in the month of December. They did just enough to outsmart the Sixers in this contest and make them work for every shot they took. Thanks to the uncharacteristic power outage and Porter Jr’s hot night Brooklyn won this game.

Tyrese Maxey had a quiet game in this contest he just did not play like his usual self. He could not buy a shot in this contest and only scored 13 points. He is dealing with fatigue from leading the team to two victories over the Knicks and Mavericks over the weekend. Whatever it is, Maxey will have to find himself and take these next few days to rest and recover. Philly will have a long road trip ahead of them for the rest of 2025, that is filled with a gauntlet of contenders and tough squads. This upcoming road trip will be a good barometer of where the Sixers are right now as a team.

The first team the Sixers will play on this road trip is the Chicago Bulls who they will face on Friday night. Philly will need to limit their turnovers and stay connected to their defensive assignment if they want to slow down Chicago’s explosive backcourt. Additionally, the Sixers will need to cash in on the high-percentage shooting opportunities created off their ball movement something they did not do against the Nets tonight. Implementing these things into their game plan for Friday night will put them in great shape to win their 17^th game of the season to begin their long road trip.