Hoping all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families.
After the short holiday break, the Nets are now back in business, as the fan base hopes that all the turkey and mac and cheese can give the players some needed energy to push through the season as we enter the last month of 2025.
Tonight in some NBA Cup action , Brooklyn will be taking on the Philadelphia 76ers (9-8), who are coming off a disastrous 41-point loss to the Orlando Magic. Core NBA fans know that if the 76ers can be fully healthy, they would be a force to be reckoned with. But until then, the Nets (who have some injuries themselves), will look to take advantage for the I-95 classic.
Catch the action at 7:30 p.m. ET on both NBA League Pass and the YES Network, as well as streaming on the Gotham Sports App.
MPJ (low back tightness), Cam Thomas (left hamstring strain), and Haywood Highsmith (knee) will all be out. Ben Saraf (ankle) is available after missing two weeks to an ankle injury. Danny Wolf who was called up Friday morning, is also available. No word on the seriousness of Porter Jr.’s back issue.
For the 76ers, Joel Embiid (knee), high-flying rookie V.J. Edgecombe (calf), former Net Trendon Watford (adductor), Adem Bona (ankle), and Kelly Oubre (knee) will all be oit. Paul George is questionable due to his ankle.
In the last matchup on November 2, the 76ers toyed with the Nets throughout the entirety of the game as they cruised to a 129-105 win at Barclays. Since then, the Nets have been playing decidedly better and Philly is even more injury-riddled that normal. Of course, Brooklyn is missing key players as well.
For the Nets, they will be without the two stars who are responsible for creating some type of offense for the team. Now, it is one thing to be without Cam Thomas, since he’s been gone for 10 games and three weeks to this point. But now, the injury bug has hit Michael Porter Jr. who is quietly putting up the best numbers of his career at 24.3 points on 48/36/83 shooting splits. There have even been games where he has been the Nets’ main playmaker. With that being said, Egor Demin will have to play more minutes and be more effective on the offensive end with limited options. After a career-high 31 points vs. New York, Noah Clowney will need to have another career game as more looks will be coming his way with MPJ and Thomas out. Another thing to watch: how many minutes Zaire Williams gets after being DNP’d by Jordi Fernandez vs. the Knicks. No guarantees. The head coach needs more from Williams.
“It’s a very abstract question because I just talked to him and didn’t play him last game,” Fernández told The Post. “So if — whenever he has the next opportunity to play — he consistently does it, then we will see if I was successful or not. If not, it’s not on him; it’s on me to try to find ways for him to perform consistently.”
Making things a bit more difficult for the Brooklyns is the NBA schedule makers’ cruelty. Just last week, the Nets played three games in four days before getting a three-day rest. Well, Friday’s game begins yet another stretch of three games in four days, including a back-to-back this weekend. This time, however, there will be no three-day reward. The Nets will play another three games in four days starting next Wednesday!
Philly has one of the best young backcourts in the league with Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, V.J. Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes who is a pure scorer (averaging 16 points on 45/38/85 on the year). Without Edgecombe, the trio of Maxey, Grimes, and McCain will have to lead their offense in all facets if they want to close out a win.
There are not a lot of games that will be like this, but if there is a game where the Nets have a legit shot at winning, it’s this one.
Player To Watch: Jared McCain
With two nagging injuries after a great rookie season, Jared McCain is slowly becoming himself once again after going down with a meniscus tear last December then a UCL tear in his right thumb during just before training camp. Although he’s still only averaging 5.4 points for the season, over the last three games, McCain has averaged 12.6 points along with more minutes. This so many teammates, including Edgecombe out, expect him to continue this streak as he gets more comfortable as the games go on.
“I think the biggest thing is the 3-balls for me,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said after Sunday’s loss talking about McCain’s need to step up. “I know I keep saying that, but we do need that production from him, and he found some of those as well. I think it’s great that he gets up to 25. I mean, especially with VJ (Edgecombe) not playing, we definitely needed to fill those minutes.”
Tyrese Maxey is leading the NBA in minutes, filling the box score and leading his team. And as if he needed more challenges, NBC Sports had a new and different one on Thanksgiving Day. Maxey, a known lover of dogs and quite familiar with agility, hosted the National Dog Show’s canine agility challenge.
