When debating the most hostile playoff environments in sports, the City of Brotherly Love is at the forefront of the conversation. Yet one day ahead of Game 1 between the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center, Spencer Dinwiddie isn't anticipating anything that Brooklyn hasn't seen before.

“As hostile as Philly is just from the fan base and the culture, I think that most of the guys that are playing have been in more hostile environments,” Dinwiddie said Wednesday. “Didn’t Nic [Claxton] already experience a Philly playoff series? And then Mikal [Bridges] and Cam [Johnson] have been in the Finals. Me and Dorian [Finney-Smith] have been in the Western Conference Finals.”

Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith played against Golden State in the West Finals last year with the Dallas Mavericks. Five of Brooklyn's top eight rotation players have reached the conference finals during their careers. And the Nets point guard said that experience has prepared them for whatever Philly has in store.

“The Suns were probably a little bit more hostile [for me] just from the standpoint of they were the best team in the league last year,” Dinwiddie said. “We went in there and beat them… This year, we have experience. Again, we don't necessarily have the Philly-specific experience and we haven't played an MVP and all that other stuff and we give credit where it's due. But we do have something to fall back on for sure.”

Head coach Jacque Vaughn said that experience in road playoff atmospheres can go a long way in Philadelphia.

“I definitely think there's a physical and mental part of this game that we'll be responsible for and understanding what the atmosphere could look like,” Vaughn said. “We have some groups, some guys on this team that have played in some high-level games on the road and know what that feels like. And they'll be able to help the other groups.”

One of the five Nets players to have reached the Conference Finals is Seth Curry, who came over from Philadelphia in the James Harden-Ben Simmons blockbuster trade at last year's deadline. Curry, who is also the son-in-law of Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, has excelled when returning to Philadelphia since the trade. In three games at Wells Fargo Center, he's averaged 23.3 points on 26-of-46 (56.5 percent) shooting from the field and 13-of-24 shooting (54.2 percent) from three.

Curry has playoff experience with several Sixers players, having come one game short of the Eastern Conference Finals with Philadelphia in 2021. The nine-year veteran feels that experience offers Brooklyn an advantage heading into the series.

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“I'm always comfortable. I enjoy playing on the road, in hostile environments,” Curry said Friday ahead of Game 1. “I know that team very well, what they do offensively and defensively… I just feel like we gotta use those advantages we have and go in to try and steal a win or two on the road.”

The week of practices leading up to Game 1 is the closest thing the new-look Nets have had to a training camp. After being thrown together at the deadline, Brooklyn caught its stride in the final weeks of the regular season. Outside of their final game in which they rested the entire rotation, the Nets finished with a 5-3 stretch during which they posted the league's second-best net rating.

However, with 38 playoff games under his belt, Curry said the postseason presents a completely new challenge for the revamped squad.

“The playoffs are a completely different game, it's like a different sport from the regular season,” Curry said. “Not just on the floor, but off the floor, everything is raised up a notch as well. The focus level has gotta be even higher and mistakes are magnified. You gotta enjoy the process. You gotta up everything and be even more aggressive, be even more locked in, you gotta enjoy the pressure.”

Mikal Bridges has led Brooklyn since the Nets acquired him for Kevin Durant, averaging 26.1 points per game on 48/38/89 shooting splits. The breakout forward will step into the playoff spotlight as a primary scorer for the first time in his career Saturday. And Bridges said his team's communication and trust in one another will determine how far they can go in the postseason.

“It's going to be a game of runs and it's going to be tough, but just staying with it, trusting what we have,” Bridges said. “If you feel something, talk about it you don't want to be two months later sitting at home watching or saying, ‘We should have done this, should have done that.' If you feel a certain way talk to the coaches, talk to the guys and go from there.

“It's not the time to hold back. If you feel a certain type of way about something, it's gut check time now.”