Tobias Harris and the Philadelphia 76ers look to take on the New York Knicks tonight at 7:30 PM at Maddison Square Garden on TNT.
In their first matchup of the season, the 76ers (2-1) will battle the Knicks (2-1) tonight in MSG on national television. The Sixers are coming off a 115-103 road win against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
The Knicks, meanwhile, are coming off a loss at home against the Orlando Magic Sunday night in a game in which they shot 37 percent from the floor and 27 percent from three-point range. The 76ers have won 15 straight games against the Knicks and swept the season series (3-0) last season. Take a look at some things to watch for during tonight’s matchup:
Injuries
For the Sixers, Ben Simmons, Shake Milton, and Grant Riller all remain out. Joel Embiid (right knee soreness) and Andre Drummond (ankle sprain) are both questionable coming into tonight’s game. Joel Embiid has been dealing with knee soreness since the first game of the season and has been a game-time in each game thereafter.
Georges Niang and Paul Reed split the backup center minutes for the injured Drummond against the Thunder and could do it again tonight if needed. If Embiid’s knee isn’t too sore, you would expect him to play to help keep the team winning without Ben Simmons.
Nerlens Noel is out tonight for the Knicks, so you can expect to see Mitchell Robinson and Taj Gibson be the main defenders against Joel Embiid.
Staying Hot
Seth Curry has started out the season 13-17 from beyond the arc after his amazing first-quarter shooting performance against the Thunder. He will continue to be a focal point of the offense during this game, as his confidence seems to be growing after every game. The Knicks will try to put their best perimeter defender on Curry to cool him, so expect to see RJ Barrett chasing after Seth.
Bounce Back
Tyrese Maxey has continued to try to grow into the starting point guard role. In Sunday night’s win, Maxey only made 4-13 shot attempts. Maxey should be able to have a bounce-back game against the Knicks if he is primarily being guarded by Kemba Walker or Evan Fournier. With Mitchell Robinson guarding the rim, we should see a lot of Maxey floaters this evening.
Defensive Intensity
The Knicks’ offense will run through Julius Randle, who continues to prove that his All-Star year last season was not a fluke. The Sixers will have to bring the intensity to focus on Randle to take him out of the game. The Sixers will also have to worry about former MVP Derrick Rose coming off the bench. Rose recently scored 23 points in their loss to the Orlando Magic and showed that he can still be called upon to produce offensively for his team.
The Knicks are the betting favorite tonight (-1.5) against the Sixers, but hopefully, the team can pull out a victory. Don’t be surprised if you see a big night from Furkan Korkmaz (over 2.5 threes made) to help keep the team in it with the second unit on the floor.
