The Philadelphia 76ers are finishing up a six-game road trip as they visit the Pelicans in New Orleans. The game will be no Mardi Gras, as the Sixers need all the losses they can get while the Pelicans hold the fourth-worst record in the league. The Sixers are on a four-game losing streak after defeating the Mavericks to start the tri,p while the Pelicans are coming in on their two-game losing streak.
Sixers game information
Who: Philadelphia 76ers (23-48) at New Orleans Pelicans (19-53)
When: 8 p.m. EST
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
Watch: NBA League Pass
Latest on the Sixers
As the NBA season winds down, the battles for positioning are critical to most teams. They spend months working towards a goal, and at the end of the season, a difference of just one spot can have many drastic implications. Usually, these scenarios involve playoff seeding, but that ship sailed long ago for the Sixers. The battle now is for the worst record between themselves, the Nets, and the Raptors. It’s going to come down to the very last few games of the season.
The Sixers have been playing as well as can be expected of a team that features a lot of players that normally wouldn’t see many, if any, minutes in an NBA game, especially at this part of the season. Quentin Grimes and Justin Edwards, who should both see plenty of minutes over the next several years, seem to be the most talented of the group.
Since Grimes joined the Sixers at the trade deadline, he’s averaged 22.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. He’s proven that he deserves a spot not only in the Sixers’ rotation next season but also in their starting lineup as the team looks toward the playoffs.
Edwards, who started slowly as most undrafted rookies do, is now averaging 9.7 points per game. Over his last ten games, he’s been averaging 14.3 points, and this hot streak has brought his three-point shooting up to 36.1% this year. For a highly recruited player out of high school to fall into the Sixers laps as he did, the Sixers may just have the steal of last season’s draft class.
Latest on the Pelicans
The Pelicans are in a similar situation as the Sixers when it comes to injuries, as they’ve lost Trey Murphy III to a season-ending torn labrum and Dejounte Murray to a torn Achilles tendon. While players like Bruce Brown Jr, Kelly Olynyk, Jose Alvarado, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Jordan Hawkins have been left to do most of the work and, much like the Sixers, the chances of them winning much are slim.
The Pelicans still have CJ McCollum, but there’s only so much the 33-year-old guard can do at this point in his career. Carrying a team like the Pelicans isn’t one of them. Things should have been easier for McCollum, who’s in his fourth season with the team and averaging 21.1 points per game, but they’ve been missing a huge piece for most of his time as well as a good portion of this season.
Zion Williamson might be playing in his ninth game this month, which is a season-high for games played in a month, matching February. While he’s listed as a game-time decision for the Sixers game, Williamson just hasn’t been able to be counted on by the team. They’re nowhere close to the team they thought they’d be when they drafted him. For the season, Zion is averaging 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, which would help his team immensely if he were available for more than the 30 games he’s played so far this season.
What to watch for tonight
The Grimes and Edwards show has been on full display for the team and its fans over the past week and should continue against a Pelicans team that has the worst defensive rating in the league. While Grimes has been showing out since he arrived in Philly, Edwards has had his moments, but not until recently has he put together a string of games where he’s been this good. The excitement these two bring when they’re on the court together is enough to have fans excited for the future of the team and both players.
While Grimes and Edwards will continue to show out, Guerschon Yabusele will need to have a strong close to his season. During the early parts of the season, “Yabu” was all the rage in Philly as he seemed to have returned to the league and become a very good player for a team that could use his size and style.
As he’s been holding down a more regular role, with all of the injuries the team has faced, Yabu hasn’t taken the big step up that the team may have expected. Over his last 10 games, Yabusele has been averaging just 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds, which isn’t helping the team. He’s going to have to finish the season with some strong performances if he wants to get back to the value he had shown early in the year.
Finally, the Ricky Council IV experiment in Philly could be coming to an end, but Council has been trying his hardest to show that he belongs. He’s had an up-and-down season but after a four-point game against the Thunder, Council IV has come back strong while averaging 17 points over the past two games. He needs to show the team that he can be a valuable player for them in the future as rookie Edwards has already surpassed him in what he provides on the court. Hopefully, there’s still some excitement that Council IV will bring as the season winds to a close.
Prediction
Sixers 123 – Pelicans 117
