Section 215
Fansided

76ers face must-win situation for Game 2 against Nets

By Dan Parzych

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 13: D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets has his shot blocked by Jimmy Butler #23 of the Philadelphia 76ers in the first half during Game One of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoff at Wells Fargo Center on April 13, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 13: D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets has his shot blocked by Jimmy Butler #23 of the Philadelphia 76ers in the first half during Game One of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoff at Wells Fargo Center on April 13, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia 76ers can’t afford to fall behind 2-0 to the Brooklyn Nets before hitting the road for Game 3.

Rightfully so, there were some concerns surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers heading into Saturday’s contest against the Brooklyn Nets to kick off the first round of the playoffs, but no one expected the team to look that bad.

From three of their starters being held to single digits in scoring to the team struggling to keep D’Angelo Russell in check after the Nets star dropped 26 points, Saturday was a game to forget for the Sixers.

Heading into Monday night, Philadelphia would love nothing more than to bounce back in Game 2 to even up the series with Brooklyn to avoid falling behind 2-0 before having to play the next two games on the road.

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In fact, the case can even be made that Monday should be viewed as a must-win situation for the Sixers, even if this series is far from over.

To say the Nets embarrassed the Sixers in front of their own fans in Game 1 would be a huge understatement when looking at the high expectations surrounding Brett Brown’s team heading into the series.

After losing to the Boston Celtics in the semifinals the way they did last spring, Philadelphia has been a team on a mission looking for redemption by making a legitimate run at the NBA Finals.

Of course, the best approach for the Sixers moving forward seems to be focusing on one game at a time since the last thing they can afford to do is get excited about a potential NBA Finals run before making sure the Nets are taken care of first.

Without question, Brooklyn deserves a ton of credit in the world for handling Game 1 the way they did since there were some questions over how this team would handle the pressure of being the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with little playoff experience.

At the moment, the Nets have a slight advantage over the Sixers since they face less pressure to win Game 2 since the team is already in great position being up 1-0 with the chance to head home being up two games if they find another way to win on Monday.

As for Philadelphia, the must-win scenario may seem like a stretch since as mentioned before, there’s still plenty of time remaining in the series.

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But if the Sixers do end up losing again before hitting the road for Brooklyn down 2-0, it’s only going to increase the high level of pressure, which is why Game 2 should be viewed as a must win.