Arguably the biggest matchup after the All-Star break has got to be the Philadelphia 76ers hosting the Brooklyn Nets. These two teams finally face off on Thursday as James Harden and the Sixers look to mark a win against his former team.

As it turns out, however, Harden isn't exactly hyped about the upcoming matchup. The former league MVP was quick to quell the revenge narrative as he played down what many consider to be a highly-anticipated contest:

“No. I’m not nervous,” he deadpanned, via Cy Carlin of Sixers Wire. “It’s basketball. I put the work in to go out there and just play my game and live with the results. Honestly, every game is a big game for us. We’re fairly new. We got championship aspirations so every game is a learning process for us no matter who we’re playing.”

Fair point from Harden here. Nevertheless, it's just hard to believe that he's not putting any extra stock in facing his former squad and of course, his former teammates in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Let's not forget that Harden forced his way out of Brooklyn just several weeks ago and there was a lot of talk about how his relationships with Durant and Irving played key roles in his decision to jump ship.

Nevertheless, Harden is having none of it. When asked if he was feeling a bit anxious about facing the Nets, the 10-time All-Star clapped back with a snappy response:

“No,” he said. “I’m here, what do you want me to do?”

Harden admitted, however, that the Sixers will have their work cut out for them when they face off against the Nets:

“Obviously, we’ll get our rest, and Thursday, Brooklyn’s gonna be a tough challenge,” Harden added. “No different than tonight’s Chicago Bulls team.”

The Sixers took care of business on Monday, taking down the Chicago Bulls, 121-106. Obviously, Harden and Co. are hoping for a similar result when they host KD, Kyrie, and the rest of the Nets on Wednesday.

For his part, Joel Embiid echoed Harden's thoughts on facing the Nets. According to the Sixers superstar big man, he's treating this matchup the same way he would any other regular-season game:

“Just a regular matchup,” Embiid said. “The season series is 2-1, so we need to win this game. It’s nothing, it’s a regular matchup for me, a regular-season game, so we’ve just got to come in with the same mindset that we’ve had and have better starts than we’ve been having lately. Focus on defense. They’ve got a lot of great players and offensively, just do what we did tonight (Monday).”

It is worth noting that the Sixers have won five out of the six games they played since the Harden trade. The single game they lost was against the Miami Heat on Saturday, which incidentally, Harden sat out due to a hamstring issue. He looked fine against the Bulls, though, and he should be good to go Wednesday against Brooklyn.

The Nets, on the other hand, are still without Ben Simmons. The former Rookie of the Year is still dealing with a number of issues and has yet to make his Nets debut since the trade. Most folks were hoping to see Simmons on the court in Philly but that just isn't going to be the case on Thursday.