76ers @ Nets

Who will WIN this matchup?

Philadelphia 76ers (28-16)

@ Brooklyn Nets (18-23)

Current odds:

Philadelphia 76ers: (-145)

Brooklyn Nets: (+125)

• The line for this game is 76ers by 1.5 points.

• It was a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers that started guard Kyrie Irving off on a rant about the team needing to bring in more help over the summer – a rant that was followed by a third straight loss. Irving and the Brooklyn Nets will take another crack at turning away the 76ers when they host the rematch on Monday. Irving, who made a point to explain himself to his teammates after listing the Nets’ core in a postgame interview following the loss at Philadelphia, followed up his 6-of-21 performance against the 76ers by going 6-of-15 from the floor in a 117-97 loss to the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. Irving was not the only Brooklyn player struggling from the floor on Saturday as the team shot 33.3 percent from the floor and went 15-of-49 from beyond the arc in loss.

• Philadelphia followed its win over the Nets with two more as it locked down on the defensive end and held the Bulls and the Knicks under 90 points in a pair of victories. “I think our defense fueled us throughout the game,” 76ers forward Tobias Harris told reporters after a 90-87 victory at New York on Saturday. “We kept them to 87 points. So, we did a good job defensively getting our stops and get out in transition.”

• Philadelphia is 20-2 at home and 8-14 on the road, and the team wasn’t its sharpest on offense at New York. “I felt that we left money on the table,” 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters. “We complicate stuff. It’s quite simple. You dribble until somebody stops you. If they don’t stop you, you dunk. If they do, you pass. We are making up stuff in early offense and leaving stuff on the table.” Harris went for 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting in Wednesday’s win over Brooklyn but totaled 28 points on 10-of-25 shooting in the last two contests.

• Brooklyn’s issues on offense extend beyond Irving, and Taurean Prince (4-of-15) and Spencer Dinwiddie (3-of-12) were big parts of a starting five that combined to shoot 30.8 percent in Saturday’s setback. Dinwiddie averaged 24.8 points in the 26 games Irving missed with a shoulder injury but is down to 15.3 points in four games since his return. Providing a bright spot for the Nets on Saturday was rookie forward Nicolas Claxton, who scored a season-high 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting in 19 minutes.

• 76ers F/C Al Horford suffered a bruised hand on Saturday and is day-to-day. He is officially listed as questionable for Monday’s game.

• Nets SF Joe Harris (back soreness) sat out the last two games and is questionable for Monday.

• Brooklyn knocked off Philadelphia 109-89 at home on Dec. 15 behind 24 points from Dinwiddie.