Back home and back with a win. The Brooklyn Nets did their best to extend their lead against the Milwaukee Bucks, but they did just enough to hold on and win by three points. Funny how that works sometimes.

The opponent is in a difficult position tonight. The Philadelphia 76ers are back on the East Coast after a truly disastrous part of the West Coast road trip. After suffering a loss to the Sacramento Kings the night before, the Sixers were embarrassed on national television by the Golden State Warriors when they lost by 34 points on Thursday night.

Where can you watch the game?

YES network on TV. WFAN on the radio. Tip after 6pm.

Injuries

No Maxwell Lewis, Bojan Bogdanovic or Trendon Watford. Cam Johnson sprained his ankle in the final seconds of Thursday’s game and is officially doubtful. Cam Thomas and Noah Clowney are both questionable.

Jared McCain is out for the season with a torn ACL. KJ Martin is out due to a stress reaction in his left foot. Kelly Oubre Jr. is doubtful with a sprained left hand. Joel Embiid is questionable with a left ankle sprain and right sinus fracture.

The game

Philadelphia won the first meeting in November.

It’s Children’s Day at Barclays! The kids going to the game tonight will get a cool lunch box!

It’s the first home game of 2025 and D’Angelo Russell’s first home game back with the Nets. Russell had a good first run with Brooklyn in the mid-2010s and has gotten off to a good start in his return. Russell gives the Nets a solid option at lead guard and someone who can heat up and keep the offense going when they get into trouble.

The 76ers still have championship expectations, but injuries have made that dream as distant as ever. They still have time to fight their way back into the playoffs, but it won’t be easy.

It will be fascinating to see Tyrese Maxey tonight. He was generally excellent, but like all of his teammates had a terrible outing on Thursday night. How bad? I’m releasing my captain, Kyle Neubeck All PHLY explain:

“Thursday’s first half featured three of the worst layup misses I’ve seen from Maxey in his career. We’ve gotten used to watching role players like Caleb Martin smoke layups without anyone challenging them, but Maxey can usually be counted on to make the free shots. Not so in this case, and unfortunately those open or open layups made up a pretty big portion of his shot attempts.

I’m also getting tired of listening and watching him complain about calls he’ll never get. You might be upset that one of “your guys” doesn’t seem to get a chance, but there’s no grand conspiracy against Maxey as a player that’s stopping him from getting calls. He ends up on the baseline and keeps looking up at the sky and at the refs, and that’s because he doesn’t initiate contact well enough to cause fouls. Teams have found effective ways to defend him inside the arc because of his limited passing options, making it easier to time rotations and contests accordingly.”

Yes. Great players tend to bounce back after terrible outings, so the Nets need to be on high alert. As for Kyle, Maxey is posting a surprisingly low 57 percent shooting rate inside the restricted area on nearly six shot attempts per game this season. The Nets’ rim protectors will (likely) have their hands full with Joel Embiid, so it will be interesting to see how Brooklyn handles Maxey.

It will be interesting to see what the Nets do if Johnson misses this one. The last time he missed a game, Jalen Wilson stepped in and filled in for him. If Clowney is able to adjust, the Nets will have another option to work with up front. With tonight being the first date of a three-game homestand, we’ll see how Jordi Fernandez handles the rotations in the likely event of Johnson’s absence.

Player to Watch: Paul George

The thing about PG is that he can either be a great number one option or a great number three option. Anything in between and you’re asking for trouble. Unfortunately, Sixer fans have been left in trouble as George has been unable to play a truly solid role this season. His numbers are down across the board and three-point shooting is particularly concerning. PG made just 33.6 percent of his threes, his lowest since his rookie season in 2010-2011. Simply put, they need a lot more from him if they want to break into the top six and beyond.

Cam Thomas should be back, and the Nets can always benefit from his scoring punch. His minutes have been in the 20s since his return, and he’s estimated to be around that number tonight. Thomas does an excellent job of driving to the basket, and that will come in handy against a Sixers team that allows teams to shoot 69.9 percent inside the restricted area, which is third-highest in the NBA this season. Combine that with Philly’s cross-country flight and the final night of their six-game road trip, and you have all the makings of a Thomas scoring success.

From the safe

I’ve heard that the Luther Vandross documentary produced by CNN is excellent, so I’ll have to look into it one day. In the meantime…

Read more: Liberty Ballers, All Phly, SB Nation NBA