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The 18-7 Sixers will be looking for a seventh win in eight games on Thursday night when they face the 13-10 Trail Blazers.
Here’s the gist for tonight’s game:
- When: 10 p.m. EST with Sixers Pregame Live at 9 p.m.
- Or: Fashion center
- Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Direct: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the MyTeams app
And here are three scenarios to watch:
Adjustments for the Sixers bench?
Shake Milton, the Sixers’ No.3 so far, was classified as questionable on Wednesday night’s injury report with a sprained left ankle. He appeared to have suffered an injury during practice with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Kings.
Seth Curry also appeared on the injury report with a sprained left ankle, although he was listed as available. Mike Scott sits out with swelling in his right knee, while bilateral contract players Paul Reed and Rayjon Tucker are with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League bubble.
If Milton is out for Thursday’s game, it would make sense for Tyrese Maxey to take some of his usual minutes. Maxey didn’t play on Tuesday night, the first time it’s happened all season. The Sixers’ second unit was very good without him, edging Sacramento’s by a 32-21 margin. Matisse Thybulle went scoreless but played a solid defense late against De’Aaron Fox.
Portland’s CJ McCollum, Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic are sidelined by injuries. Damian Lillard and Ben Simmons are expected to be available after missing out on the Blazers’ victory over the Sixers last week.
Shift into high gear
When the game is close and they needed saves, the Sixers seemed capable of raising their defense to an elite level.
Statistics confirm this perception: The Sixers have a 98.8 defensive rating in the fourth quarter, according to NBA.com/Stats, which is 3.5 points better than the second-placed Raptors. The team’s net odds of 13.7 in the fourth quarter are also the league’s best, four points ahead of Toronto’s.
Simmons had a simple explanation of why the Sixers’ defense improved from the first to the second half against the Kings.
“Just by focusing,” he says. “We literally focus. When we’re focused and running our own affairs and moving the ball, and then defensively when we’re locked in and communicating, I don’t really see too many teams fighting when we play like that. When we perform plays, it’s difficult. We look great when we do all of this.
How long can this last?
The Sixers still haven’t lost with their opening night roster. When Simmons, Curry, Tobias Harris, Simmons and Embiid all play together, they are 14-0 and have a net rating of over 16.6, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Although this is at the start of the year and playing during a pandemic has led to many games in which one or both teams are well below their full strength, that undefeated mark is still a significant validation that the The off-season approach of the president of basketball operations Daryl Morey made a lot of sense.
The Sixers faced a relatively easy schedule, yes, but it’s definitely a good sign that the team has won whenever their best lineup has adjusted, although it shouldn’t last a long time. season.
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