The Philadelphia 76ers are hosting the Utah Jazz on Sunday night. Their playoff hopes have all but slipped away, and the chance to keep their first-round draft pick this year looks to be slipping away.
With the Raptors and Nets losing on Saturday night, the Sixers find themselves behind both teams in their quest to keep a top-six protected pick in this year’s draft. The Jazz are one of the few other teams that are below the Sixers in the standings and riding a four-game losing streak of their own.
Sixers game information
Who: Utah Jazz (15-48) at Philadelphia 76ers (21-41)
When: 7:30 p.m. EST
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Latest on the Sixers
In a season of absolute failure for the Sixers, it would be fitting that they win enough games to lose their protected first-round pick and continue to question whether their biggest star will return to some semblance of form next season. While Joel Embiid and rookie star Jared McCain have been out for most of the season, the team is now faced with no Tyrese Maxey nor Paul George as they take on a Jazz team that’s just as depleted.
When you’re playing late in the season, and Lonnie Walker IV and Jeff Dowtin are leading your lineup, that’s probably not a good sign. In the loss to the Celtics on Thursday night, Walker and Downtin were two of the top players on the team’s court. Kelly Oubre Jr. led the team with 27 points, and rookie Justin Edwards had 14 points, and that’s about it. Minimal contributions from Geurschonn Yabusele, Andre Drummond, and Quentin Grimes didn’t help the starting unit, while Adem Bona, Jared Butler, and Alex Reese all saw time on the floor.
In all reality, the Sixers should lose as many games as possible over their final 20 in hopes that the Raptors and Nets will both win some games going forward and help the Sixers out. But, as all things have gone this season, that seems like a dream. This year’s version of the Sixers is having a hard time even losing correctly.
Latest on the Jazz
The Jazz are at the bottom of the Western Conference and are currently tied with the Charlotte Hornets for the second-worst record in the league. A loss to the Sixers, which isn’t out of the realm for this team, would help move them slightly ahead of the Hornets in the lottery this season. For a team like the Jazz, it’s not too far off to think that’ll happen.
Like the Sixers, the Jazz have been destroyed by injuries and will feature a lineup on Sunday of people that most have never heard of. For ex-Sixer Kenyon Martin Jr., that means he’ll be seeing starter’s minutes, but the Jazz are trying to do the same thing as the Sixers and lose as many games as possible. Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, and Taylor Hendricks will all be out against the Sixers, as the Jazz have the slight upper hand in the most injuries to players.
The Jazz are just 2-8 over their last 10 games and have lost four games in a row. They’re heading into Philadelphia to take on a Sixers team that’s lost three games in a row. By the end of the night, one of these teams will extend its losing streak and be one step closer to its lottery goal.
What to watch for tonight
Tonight’s game will be a chance for the younger and inexperienced members of the Sixers to get some more quality minutes against a team that will be playing just as poorly, if not worse. The Sixers have no reason to give Drummond, who is questionable with an illness, Yabusele, or Grimes any extended minutes against the Jazz and possibly walk out of the game with a victory.
Edwards, Oubre Jr., Bona, Butler, Downtin, and Reese should all see a lot of minutes, which could make for some exciting play as the youngsters will want to make the most of their time on the court. Ultimately, what the Sixers need to do is look competitive and see what they have in some of the younger rostered players, especially over the last 20 games of the season. Quality minutes for younger players, against NBA competition and not G-League minutes, are going to pay dividends to the team in the future.
The way these two teams have played lately and the absence of almost everyone of note on the rosters could make for a comically inept game that may be fun to watch if it wasn’t so painful to know what’s going on for them both. The Sixers hope to be more inept than the Jazz, and that’s a lofty goal to aspire to.
Prediction
Sixers 93 – Jazz 97
