The Philadelphia 76ers are at home to host the Toronto Raptors, and they’re hoping to end their three-game losing streak. The Sixers have looked completely out of sorts over the past few games, and the Raptors have looked even worse, losing four games in a row.
Sixers game information
Who: Toronto Raptors (16-37) at Philadelphia 76ers (20-32)
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA League Pass
Latest on the Sixers
The Sixers are in the middle of a three-game losing streak despite the return of Joel Embiid and Paul George to the lineup. Tyrese Maxey has been playing on another level over the past several weeks and is averaging 33.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists on 52.4% shooting and, more importantly, 40.4% on his three-point attempts. While Maxey has been great, the concern is with the other two stars of the team.
While Paul George is going to battle his way through a hand injury and has been playing well since returning, he’s still not giving the team what they expected when he was signed this past off-season. He’s averaging 16.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while shooting 43% from the floor and just 37.2% on his three-point attempts. There are not exactly the maximum contract numbers for a team that is expected to compete for a championship.
Embiid is a complete other story, having appeared in just 16 games this season. Recently, despite Daryl Morey saying that they have faith that Embiid’s knee will improve, Embiid came out and said that he’s “will likely” need surgery and a long recovery period. After everything they’ve been through this season, it’d be easy to argue shutting him down, get him back around around the start of next season and hope they can be not too far out of contention.
Latest on the Raptors
The Raptors are in the middle of a four-game losing streak and are one of the few teams actually lower in the standings than the Sixers. The Raptors have some quality young players, but they’re not a good defensive team and are just as bad offensively and on long-distance shooting.
The Raptors have dealt with some injuries, especially lately, with leading scorer RJ Barret dealing with a concussion, Jakob Poeltl, Immanuel Quickley, and newly acquired Brandon Ingram all missing tonight’s game. Quickley has only played 14 games this season, Grady Dick is battling a neck injury, and now Barrett and his concussion, life has not been easy for the team.
What is hurting the Raptors is their poor defense and, even worse, shooting. In the most recent loss to the Hawks, Quickley had 20 points, Scottie Barnes had 15, and even Jamal Shead finished with 14 points against a Hawks team, which is not very good. But, if you look at why they’re losing games, they get into shouting matches with teams, and they’re not good. They shot just 19% on their three-point attempts against the Hawks. That’s a real number for an NBA team.
What to watch for tonight
Tyrese Maxey will, again, lead the way but will be forced to watch the team slow down to accommodate Joel Embiid and his role, which he won’t change, in the team’s offense. At least while he’s injured, Paul George is still giving an effort, but Embiid looks out of shape and out of sorts and not really interested in adapting to a more uptempo style that the Sixers have grown over his past month-long absence.
Good news for the Sixers tonight: The Raptors are a worse shooting long-distance team than they are, so they’ll be able to get into one of those shootouts that they love so much while knowing that the other team is probably going to miss just as much as the Sixers will. Embiid will get his stats against a smaller Raptors squad that is hurting right now, but 2-7 from three will not look good for him.
Watch the game to see with Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon maybe missing the game, Justin Edwards and Ricky Council IV, along with newcomer Quentin Grimes, getting a bunch of minutes and providing some exciting moments. The hope is that head coach Nick Nurse starts to use the younger guys again and stop forcing the older vets into minutes when they clearly have lost a step or three. If you like lots of rebounding and missed shots, tonight is the game you should watch.
Prediction
Sixers 128 – Raptors 101
