76ers at Nets
The Philadelphia 76ers suffered their first home loss on Friday, 121-112 to the NBA-worst Cleveland Cavaliers, but were not discouraged. The 76ers will try to bounce back quickly and win for the fifth time in six games when they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Philadelphia, which returns home for three straight after playing the Nets, was 10-0 in its own arena before getting pushed around on the glass and letting the lowly Cavaliers shoot 52.7 percent from the floor on Friday. "You never want to lose, you never want to lose to a team not doing that well," 76ers point guard Ben Simmons told reporters. "And you don't want to lose at home. We've got to move on to Brooklyn next." The Nets outrebounded Minnesota 56-44 on Friday but still suffered a 112-102 setback and were not happy with their effort level. "We came out lackadaisical," point guard D'Angelo Russell told reporters. "We didn't have that bounce in our step, just that energy from the start of the game. (Even if you don't have that), we can still play defense, still be physical, still gain rebounds, still do stuff like that, but as far as on the offensive end, it carried over. It held us back, and those missed rebounds and defensive assignments led to them getting points and us not."
TV: 6 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (13-8): Philadelphia was outrebounded 51-38 by the Cavaliers, and All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler put the blame on the backcourt. "I think a lot of it's on the guards," Butler told reporters. "I think (Joel Embiid), Mike (Muscala), Wilson (Chandler), they're down there banging with some big guys. 7-footers, 200-however many pounds. I think the guards got come over the top and secure a lot more of those rebounds. I think it's on us - the guard unit - to help the bigs out." Embiid still managed to secure 12 rebounds in the loss to go with 24 points in his NBA-leading 19th double-double.
ABOUT THE NETS (8-12): Russell went 2-of-10 from the floor, including 0-of-6 from 3-point range, and committed four of Brooklyn's 18 turnovers in Friday's setback. "We were searching for energy, but we just didn’t have the juice," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters. "We couldn't get over the hump. ... I think our turnovers were a big part of our inefficiencies tonight." Russell's five points marked a season low and the first time this month that he failed to reach double figures, coming on the heels of a four-game stretch in which he averaged 20.8 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets PG Spencer Dinwiddie is averaging 17.8 points and 7.4 assists over the last five games.
2. 76ers rookie PG Landry Shamet totaled 25 points off the bench in the last two games.
3. Brooklyn snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 122-97 home win on Nov. 4.