Nets at 76ers
The Brooklyn Nets are coming off their highest-scoring performance of the season and now take aim at the worst defensive team in the Eastern Conference when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Joe Johnson scored 27 points and Brook Lopez had 26 as Brooklyn shot 55.8 percent - also a season high - in a 128-119 win over Sacramento on Friday.
The outburst gave the Nets four straight games of 100 points or more, their longest such stretch of the season. Philadelphia has allowed opponents to hit the century mark in six consecutive games, losing each of the last four. Ish Smith scored 22 points but his fellow starters combined for 27 on 10-of-30 shooting in Friday's 106-94 setback at Washington, which dropped the 76ers to 1-29 against the East. Johnson and Lopez combined for only 14 points but Brooklyn received loads of support from its bench in a 100-91 win over Philadelphia in the first meeting this season.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE NETS (13-38): Johnson looked the part of an aging veteran early in the season but he has authored a turnaround since the calendar turned to 2016. After shooting 35 percent through December - including 30.2 percent from long range - he is up to 49.3 percent since New Year's while drilling 48.8 percent of his 3-pointers. He had a season-high 11 assists against the Kings after handing out nine in a loss to Indiana two nights earlier.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (7-43): Robert Covington sparked Philadelphia's first win with 23 points during a personal hot stretch earlier this season and he posted a pair of 25-point efforts last month, but he has suddenly hit a wall, posting six points in 40 minutes over two games in February. He missed all five of his shots against Washington while going scoreless for the third time this season and is 0-of-8 from 3-point range this month. Covington also missed all six of his long-range tries in the loss to Brooklyn while being held to six points, his only single-digit effort in a span of 14 games from Nov. 21-Dec. 16.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lopez is averaging 27 points during a five-game stretch.
2. Brooklyn is 1-7 in the second half of back-to-backs on the road.
3. Sixers PF Richaun Holmes (ankle) is expected to miss his second straight game.