In a must win game, the Brooklyn Nets will host the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday afternoon at the Barclays Center.

As mentioned many times before, the Lakers are eliminated from playoff contention, but that is not going to stop them from playing spoilers. The Nets are only a half game out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and cannot get complacent against a Lakers team that battles hard every night despite their lack of talent.

The Lakers are, however, resting their veteran players to give more minutes to their young studs. Byron Scott has said that he wants to evaluate his young players as the season slowly comes to an end. He has turned to a starting lineup of Jordan Clarkson, Jeremy Lin, Wesley Johnson, Ryan Kelly, and Tarik Black over the last few games.

Clarkson has been a bright spot over the last three games, averaging 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on nearly 49 percent shooting. Jeremy Lin has been brilliant as well, scoring 18 or more points in four straight games, which is the first time he has done that since the 2011-2012 season.

The Lakers played the Toronto Raptors in their most recent game and melted down in the second half after a pleasant first half. They fell, 94-83, led by 18 points and five assists by Jeremy Lin. Despite keeping DeMar DeRozan in check, the Lakers were unable to hold off Toronto’s role players.

Meanwhile, the Nets are coming off a fantastic victory on Friday against the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-98. Both Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez scored 20 points, with Johnson also adding nine assists and Lopez adding nine rebounds. Brooklyn’s bench was the story, though, as they scored 47 points led by Bojan Bogdanovic’s 18. Jarrett Jack pitched in 16 points, five assists, and four rebounds, while Alan Anderson added 13 points and five rebounds.

That was a crucial win for the Nets as they continue to push for a playoff spot. However, they may be without their starting point guard Deron Williams for Sunday’s contest as he is battling an illness and did not practice on Saturday. It’s unfortunate since Williams has been play making at a high level once again, averaging 9.7 assists in the last three games.

These two teams met right after the All-Star break on February 20th in Los Angeles. In that game, Williams notched a double-double with 10 points and 15 assists to aid his team to victory. Joe Johnson had a team-high 23 points, and Brook Lopez contributed with a double-double of his own, scoring 22 points and vacuuming in 14 rebounds.

The Lakers had six players in double figures, led by Lin, in that game, but their three-point and free-throw shooting was despicable, going 17.4 and 65.5 percent, respectably.

The Nets, 13-20 at home, haven’t played well at the Barclays Center as their road record is slightly better. Fortunately for them, the Lakers are extremely dreadful on the road at 8-28.

The game tips off at 3:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.