The Philadelphia 76ers haven’t had much going their way to start the season. Although it has only been two games so far, the Sixers have looked out of sorts as they miss their two biggest stars, Joel Embiid and Paul George. With the two of them still missing, they’ll have a tough time against the Pacers, who are at home this afternoon.
Sixers game information
Who: Philadelphia 76ers (0-2) at Indian Pacers (1-1)
When: 3:30 pm EST
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Watch: NBA Sports Philadelphia, Bally Sports Indiana
Latest on the Sixers
The Sixers knew, going into the season, that they’d have to play some games without Joel Embiid and, more than likely, Paul George. The key for the team is to have their two big stars as healthy as possible for the playoffs in six months. What no one planned on was that the team would start the year without the two stars. Embiid is on a maintenance plan for his knee, so the idea of having him available was always up in the air, but George hurt his knee during the preseason and threw a wrench into the team’s plans.
Guard Tyrese Maxey, the third star in the Sixers triumvirate, has had a tough go of it, as teams are able to focus mainly on him and prevent him from controlling the game. While Maxey is tied for the team lead in scoring with Kelly Oubre Jr., at 24.5 points per game, he’s only shot 29.6% from the field and 19% on his three-point attempts. If the Sixers are going to have any chance of winning games without one or both of their big stars, they’re going to have to find a way to get Maxey better looks and get his shooting percentages up way beyond where they’re at now.
Kelly Oubre Jr. has taken on a tough role to start the season yet is flourishing on the team, tied for the lead in scoring with Maxey while shooting 48.6% from the floor and 33.3% on his three-point attempts. The Sixers are going to need more of the same from Oubre against Indiana if they’re going to get themselves into the win column.
Kyle Lowry came off the bench in the first game and then got the start against Toronto this past week. He had 13 points and six assists in the first game and followed it up with another 14-point performance against the Raptors. At 38 years old, Lowry can’t be expected to be the player he once was, but with the Sixers limited from a personnel point of view, Lowry has the knowledge and still the ability to provide some help.
The Sixers are going to need a much better game this time around than they’ve had in the first two games. They currently rank close to the bottom in shooting percentage, at 40.2%, and in three-point shooting, at 28.3%. Those numbers will obviously increase as the team sees its full lineup playing, but until then, and while Embiid is on his program, they’re going to have to figure out a way to play much better.
The first two games of the season have shown them that, despite their poor shooting, they’re still in games, and if they can improve in that area, they could easily grab some wins over the next week. The important part for the Sixers is to get that first win, and that starts today.
Latest on the Pacers
The Pacers opened the season with a win over Detroit, as they should have, and then were blowout by the Knicks on Friday night, 123 – 98. The Knicks were set up to be the team that could take over the Eastern Conference after last year’s surprising run, so the Pacers losing there shouldn’t be that big of a deal. They used all 15 players on the roster, and Johnny Furphy was the only one not to score for the team. Against the Sixers, they shouldn’t be going that deep, as the game should remain relatively close.
The Pacers have a good team, but they don’t have the star or firepower of teams like the Knicks, the Celtics, or even the Sixers. Their leading scorer is former first-round pick Bennedict Mathurin, who’s averaging 19.5 points per game to start the year. Right behind him, Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam, along with TJ McConnell and Isaiah Jackson, are all in double digits.
Their biggest name, guard Tyrese Halliburton, has struggled to start, averaging 7.5 points and shooting just 23.1% from the floor and an unheard-of 6.3% on his three-point attempts. That won’t continue, as Haliuburton has shown over his career to be a good scorer and shooter on top of being one of the best facilitators in the league.
Haliburton hasn’t looked the same since injuring a hamstring in January and may still be feeling some lingering effects of having played throughout the summer in the Olympics. They’ll need to have him get back to his old self, sooner rather than later, if they’re going to have a chance of making the playoffs in the East. Today, it may be a tough game as Philadelphia has some size and can clog up the Pacers’ frontcourt.
What to look for…
The Sixers need a win on Sunday. There’s no chance that they can leave Indiana with another loss and not feel like they have some serious problems. The key for the Sixers is shooting. They need to be better at creating good shots for players, especially Maxey, who thrives when he’s getting good looks but has shown to have a tough time when teams are able to focus on him and him alone.
The emergence of Kelly Oubre Jr., at least over the first two games, shows that opposing teams will need to account for him more, and he’s perfectly capable of dropping twenty or more points at any time. The Sixers will need Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin to step up their games if they’re going to shut down Haliburton, Turner, and Siakam.
This could be the game where Andre Drummond has a nice 16-point 18 rebound effort and controls the paint for the Sixers. Getting Ricky Council IV and Jared McCain some minutes could be in the works as head coach Nick Nurse is looking for the best lineups so he’s prepared later in the season for the Embiid rest days.
Prediction
Sixers 118 – Pacers 113
