76ers @ Nets

Who will WIN this matchup?

Philadelphia 76ers

@ Brooklyn Nets

Current odds:

Philadelphia 76ers: (-125)

Brooklyn Nets: (+105)

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

• No Joel Embiid, no problem for the Philadelphia 76ers, who look to take a commanding 3-1 lead when they visit the Brooklyn Nets for Game 4 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series. After averaging 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in limited minutes as the team’s split the first two games, Embiid (knee) took a seat to watch his team roll to a 131-115 win at Brooklyn on Thursday in Game 3. Ben Simmons stepped up with 31 points and Tobias Harris added 29 points and 16 rebounds for Philadelphia, which is averaging 138 points in its two wins after struggling to 102 in the Game 1 loss. “We have the pieces to get games, to complete games and I think everybody in the organization knows that,” Simmons told reporters.

• Guards D’Angelo Russell and Caris LeVert scored 26 points apiece for the Nets but could not keep up with the Sixers’ relentless attack, which led to at least 32 points in each quarter. “We didn’t do a good enough job of getting stops,” forward Joe Harris told reporters. “You can’t have three guys go for (approximately) 30 and expect to win games.”

• Tobias Harris was held to four points in the series opener but has rebounded to produce 48 over the last two games and was 6-of-6 from 3-point range in Thursday’s win. “Just came in, obviously with Joel down that’s a big scoring loss that we had there,” he told reporters. “So just had to be aggressive from the start.” Veteran center Greg Monroe chipped in 13 rebounds in his first start since Dec. 22, when he was still with Toronto, while backup big man Boban Marjanovic added 14 points and eight boards and is averaging 14.3 and 6.3, respectively, in 17.3 minutes during the series.

• Defensive breakdowns and a futile effort on the boards (Philadelphia has a 103-75 advantage over the last two games) has Brooklyn potentially in need of a shake-up entering Game 4. “The last two games we haven’t found a solution to stop them. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board to find something that’ll work,” coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters. “Yeah, we’ve got to look at everything. It starts defensively, we’ve got to look at lineups. Good thing it’s only 2-1, come back Saturday and you get a win it’s a different series. But we have to look at some different things. Obviously the last two games it’s definitely not working.” Joe Harris, who led the NBA with a 47.4 percent mark from beyond the arc during the regular season, is 0-for-6 from 3-point range in the last two games.

• Embiid went through some warm-ups Thursday before the Sixers announced he would sit, and the All-Star remains day-to-day.

• Philadelphia SG JJ Redick is averaging 21.5 points over the last two games after producing five on 2-of-7 shooting in the series opener.

• The Sixers have 75 assists in the series, compared to 47 for the Nets.