The 76ers are coming off one of their most embarrassing losses Wednesday night against the Heat in Wells Fargo Center.

A game where Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro didn’t play and Gabe Vincent, best known for dropping 21 points in a win against Team USA last summer, shot the lights out from deep hitting seven triples. Now, only a week removed from a three-game winning streak, the 76ers are staring down a three-game skid if they can’t get the job done Thursday in Brooklyn.

Luckily for the 76ers, the Nets are far from full strength for this matchup. Brooklyn recently placed seven players in health and safety protocols, including James Harden, Paul Milsap, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Combined with the fact Joe Harris is still recovering from ankle surgery, the Nets are close to not having enough guys to even play the game.

The 76ers themselves, like almost every team in the NBA, aren’t fully healthy either. Georges Niang is still in health and safety protocols, and Furkan Korkmaz was just recently ruled out of tonight’s contest with a non-COVID related illness. The Sixers will come into the contest with a short bench, but unlike the Nets, will have a solid starting five.

One would think a game like this should be a free win. After all, the Nets will only have around eight guys to play. Stop me if you’ve heard this before with a certain opponent from South Beach that just beat the 76ers. On top of that, this Nets team still has one of the best players in the league, Kevin Durant, suiting up for this contest. Durant, with the help of 30 points from Patty Mills, just took down the Raptors despite their COVID restrictions, so I wouldn’t count the Nets out in any shape or form.

76ers-Nets Odds from Parx Sportsbook

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Despite the COVID issues, Brooklyn is currently atop the Eastern Conference standings and any game with Kevin Durant suiting up should be close as the odds suggest. The Nets are currently on a three-game win streak of their own, but face an uphill battle trying to find an answer for Joel Embiid.

As long as the 76ers show this time around they can beat a 1-3-1 zone, a concept I learned how to beat in my high school basketball days, I see the 76ers pulling out the win. Brooklyn simply doesn’t have enough guys to contain the 76ers’ starting five, and I would bet serious money someone off the Nets bench won’t drain seven threes.

As long as Kevin Durant doesn’t go nuclear, I see the 76ers winning this contest. Philly needs to take advantage of free wins against big Eastern conference opponents. They already squandered a chance at that against the Heat, so in classic Sixers fashion, they’ll get the job done tonight against a depleted Brooklyn Nets squad.

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher.