The Philadelphia 76ers (9-8) take on the Sacramento Kings (6-11) Monday night at 10:00 PM in Sac-Town. Each team is coming off losses and going through some extended losing streaks in the last couple of weeks.
The Sixers will be going into tonight’s game losers of 6 out of their last 7 games. They have been shorthanded throughout the season but have really struggled to get victories ever since Joel Embiid has been out due to health and safety protocols. This evening they will still be without Joel Embiid, as well as Danny Green (hamstring) and Ben Simmons (Personal Reasons). Tobias Harris is questionable with hip soreness.
The Kings are dealing with their own internal issues. They have started off the season 6-11 and recently fired their Head Coach Luke Walton for the team’s underwhelming early-season performance. Of their 6 wins, two of them came against the lowly Pelicans, and another win came against the Pistons. The Kings are also dealing with the struggling offensive performance from point guard De’Aaron Fox. Fox’s struggles have been well documented early on, with some thinking it is a chemistry issue between him and Tyrese Haliburton.
Take a looks at some things to watch for tonight:
Mad Max
Tyrese Maxey has been on fire and coming into his own. Maxey is averaging 25.7 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in his last 6 games. In order for this team to try to get a win tonight, Maxey needs to continue to be aggressive. More possessions with the ball in his and fewer possessions with him standing in the corner.
Bench Mob
The 76ers’ bench had success early in the season, but recently they have struggled somewhat. Furkan Korkmaz has completely disappeared in the last two weeks, Shake Milton is inconsistent, and Matisse Thybulle is just returning from Covid-19 Protocols. The Sixers need Korkmaz to get back to his old self and, in the meantime, play Isaiah Joe more until Korkmaz can get back to true form. Charles Bassey has been a surprise these last two games, and we hope to see continued development from him.
Drummond’s Energy
Andre Drummond showed earlier in the season that he was an upgrade from Dwight Howard as the Sixers’ backup center. As Embiid has been out, we have started to see more and more why teams have had issues with him when he plays a ton of minutes. He seems disengaged and showing no signs of hustle and energy. Fans can only hope that coach Doc Rivers has had a conversation with Drummond about his play in order to light a fire under him.
You can catch tonight’s action on NBC Sports Philadelphia or NBA TV at 10 PM.
