Nets’ Head Coach Anticipates a ‘Haymaker’ From the Sixers in Game 2

The Philadelphia 76ers might be the third seed in the Eastern Conference, but they sure haven't been playing like it. Ever since the Sixers locked in their playoff berth, they have seemingly taken their foot off of the gas. Did they stop trying, and are now having trouble flipping the switch? Or have they just legitimately cooled down from being a team that's on fire? Either way, the Sixers are far from the team that they were early on, and midway through the regular season.

For the last few weeks, Philly has played some uninspiring basketball. And no thanks to a handful of injuries to key players, the chemistry has been a bit off as well. Now, we're witnessing a team that's good enough to get to the playoffs, but are too rusty to get back into the routine of consistently winning.

On Saturday, the Sixers came out in front of their home crowd and caused a hostile environment to turn on them. The Nets were on fire, and the Sixers didn't have an answer for them. While it was clear that the Nets were just flat out the better team on the court this past Saturday, Brooklyn isn't letting that get to their heads. As their Head Coach, Kenny Atkinson addressed the media an hour and a half before tip-off, he made it clear that he believes his team did not see Philly's most considerable effort on Saturday. And he anticipates a different result on Monday night.

During Game 1, the Nets threw an unexpected haymaker at the Sixers, which caused a bit of a curveball in the series. However, Atkinson makes it known that the Nets aren't full of themselves after one win. Not to say it was all a fluke, but this series is far from over. Knowing how talented the Sixers are on paper, all they have to do is flip the switch, and they can become a nightmare to guard on the defensive side of the ball for the opposition.

The Sixers haven't proven that they can flip the switch and turn that on just yet, but Brooklyn hasn't ruled out Game 2 as an automatic win for themselves. They expect a better fight, and the Sixers seem to be willing to give them one. It's not do-or-die in South Philly on Monday just yet, but it would be a steep hole to fall in if the Sixers were to start off 0-2 while heading into Brooklyn. Expect haymakers on Monday.

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