The Philadelphia 76ers have pulled together and stopped the presses, their first winning streak of the season, which now rests at two games as they host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. The Sixers and Magic will both be playing on the tail end of back-to-back games, with the Sixers defeating the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night and the Magic losing to the Knicks in New York.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse must be diligent with his rotation, as the Magic have been on fire recently, winning 12 of their last 14 games.
Sixers game information
Who: Orlando Magic (15-8) at Philadelphia 76ers (5-14)
When: 7:30 pm EST
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA League Pass, Bally Sports Florida
Latest on the Sixers
With the Sixers putting together their first win streak of the season, at two games, the team will be hard-pressed to keep it going against the Magic as they’ve already ruled out Paul George for tonight’s game in addition to Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond. Embiid remains sidelined with whatever the team has decided for their latest update. He’s only appeared in four games for the Sixers this season, all losses, and has been rehabbing his knee and, most recently, dealing with personal issues, according to the team.
The Sixers will rely on Guershon Yabusele and Adam Bona to hold down the center position while Embiid and Drummond remain out, with the duo contributing 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists in the win over the Hornets, with the bulk of that coming from Yabusele despite a poor shooting night from the floor and a goose-egg from on his three-point attempts.
The real issue for the Sixers, based on the players that do play, is that head coach Nick Nurse absolutely must find a way for rookie Jared McCain to be on the floor and work together with All-Star guard, Tyrese Maxey. McCain was recently named Rookie of the Month for the league and then saw himself sitting on the bench for the final 8:33 of the Hornets game, despite shooting 7-10 from the field and 3-4 on his three-point attempts.
Maxey has struggled at times throughout the season with his shot selection but has been able to get it going enough to be respectable, despite his poor shooting against the Hornets. Maxey had the final 11 points for the Sixers in their win, while McCain could do nothing from the bench. Nurse needs to figure out a way for both players to be on the court at the same time to maximize the team’s offensive production. Having him on the bench and having the team squander a 19-point lead won’t have the fans or management put much faith in Nurse if he can’t right the ship immediately.
Latest on the Magic
Having lost Paolo Banchero after only five games of the season, the Magic looked to be on a slide that they wouldn’t recover from, losing the first five games without their star young forward. But Franz Wagner has decided that he’s going to play at an All-Star level and take over the team while they await Banchero’s return.
Wagner is averaging 23.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.9 assists to go along with 1.8 steals per game on the season. After the initial skid, the Magic have gone 12-2 and were on a six-game winning streak before running into the Knicks on Tuesday night.
The Magic happen to be one of only two teams that trail the Sixers in three-point shooting on the season with only a 31.3% success rate. Their poor shooting doomed them against the Knicks, who shot 42.9% from beyond the arc, while the Magic only shot 23.1% on their own. Against the Sixers, they’ll need to be more accurate if they’re going to avoid starting a losing streak and prevent the Sixers from extending theirs.
What to watch for tonight
The Sixers will be trying to extend their winning streak to three games which seems unheard of based on how the season has gone so far. If they’re to defeat the Magic, they’ll need to have their best efforts from the front court of Guershon Yabusele, Caleb Martin, and Kelly Oubre Jr. while getting Maxey and McCain on the same page together on the court.
With the injuries coming to the Sixers as they have, the team has given KJ Martin some more time on the floor and the young player has responded with 10 points and 3.5 rebounds in just over 24 minutes per game. The team will need Martin’s athleticism and talent along with some minutes for Ricky Council IV if they’re going to keep pace with the Magic.
The real key to success, especially as the Sixers are missing George and Embiid, will be Nick Nurse’s ability to figure out how to best use McCain and Maxey together. McCain sitting on the bench to close out the Hornets game was inexcusable. Besides Maxey, the team wasn’t able to get a bucket. You need to play If Nurse can’t figure out how to utilize the early favorite for Rookie of the Year, then a long season is about to get even longer.
Prediction
Sixers 109 – Magic 115
