NBA Game Preview - Philadelphia at Brooklyn

Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:30 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- For teams who struggle most of the season, the playoffs are out of the question. Instead, satisfaction is derived from playing well in the final portion of the season.

Those statements describe how things are going for the Brooklyn Nets in recent weeks.

The Nets began March with a 16-game losing streak but, heading into Tuesday night's home game with the Philadelphia 76ers, they have won seven of their last 15 games.

"I do feel the improvement," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said after Sunday's 107-92 win at Atlanta. "But it's not about the wins. Before the road trip, I felt we were starting to improve. I felt like it was coming. Can we sustain it and finish these last nine games on a positive note? That's the challenge to our group."

While it's still a losing record, few teams with the league's worst record have that type of somewhat respectable stretch, especially late in the seasons.

The Nets are looking how they envisioned with their pairing of Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez. The duo was halted for two long stretches due to a pair of left hamstring injuries for Lin.

The Nets are 7-10 since Lin returned from the second injury and won the one game he sat out when Lopez hit a buzzer-beater against the Detroit Pistons last week.

On Sunday, the duo combined for 42 points. Lopez had 23 points and seven rebounds and Lin added 19 in a game where the Nets led by 22 and pulled away later after the margin shrank to five points.

"We haven't been in that situation a lot," Atkinson said after the Nets set season lows in points allowed and opponents' shooting percentage (34.5). "Jeremy helped matters a lot, milking the clock, taking a little better care of the ball, knowing when to get in the pick-and-roll."

Lopez and Lin have played 489 minutes together this season in 25 games and the Nets have a 106.5 offensive rating. This month, they played 281 minutes together and the Nets have posted a 109.6 offensive rating.

"I don't want to say that earlier in the season we would have folded, but I don't think we would have done a great job of holding on to our composure the way we did," Lopez said. "That shows the growth and how much we've improved throughout the season mentally and in the intangible aspects of the game."

In the last 15 games, the Nets are averaging 108.5 points, shooting 45.7 percent (36.2 percent from 3-point range), averaging 15.5 turnovers, 43.1 rebounds and 20.8 assists to go along with a 106.9 offensive rating.

Defensively, the Nets are allowing 108.9 points this month, though it is skewed by the 130 allowed at Portland on March 4, 122 against Oklahoma City on March 14 and 129 against Washington on Friday. In the last three wins, Brooklyn is allowing 95.3 points and 38.2 percent shooting, including 22.7 percent from 3-point range.

Philadelphia's last visit to Brooklyn was Jan. 8 when it matched its win total from last season with a 105-95 vctory. Since getting their 10th win, the 76ers are 17-21.

Joel Embiid scored 20 points in the last meeting but played six more times. He has not played since Jan. 27 due to a torn meniscus in his left knee that required season-ending surgery.

Since Embiid's last appearance, Philadelphia is 10-18. Not only will the Sixers be without Embiid, Jahlil Okafor is unlikely to play Tuesday. Okafor has missed the last two games with right knee soreness and the team is unclear when the second-year center will return.

Without Okafor, the 76ers were unable to follow up their win in Chicago and were handed a 107-94 loss at Indiana on Sunday.

Dario Saric, who scored a career-high 32 points against Chicago, finished with nine points. He was just 3 of 15 and ended his run of consecutive double-digit scoring games at 22.

"We had a very bad night, in my opinion," Saric said. "It wasn't even close to the way we played in Chicago."

Philadelphia took 41 3-point attempts and only made 14. The Sixers also faltered defensively in the second half after being close in the first half and did not get any scorer to 20 points.

"We just couldn't get a stop, really," guard T.J. McConnell said. "We couldn't get a stop, couldn't make shots. We just missed defensive assignments. In the first half, we were right there with them."