Coming off of a loss at the hand of the Celtics, the Sixers (0-11) welcome the Phoenix Suns (7-5) to town. Philadelphia, who led by as many as nine on Wednesday night against Boston, fell victim to sloppy turnovers and poor shooting in the second half, losing 101-90. Meanwhile, the Suns have won four of their last six and two straight. On Wednesday night, they escaped Detroit with an 88-86 victory. Tonight's matchup is set for 7PM on CSN.
The big story about the Sixers this week is the thoughts of Sam Hinkie's rebuilding plan. The team has won just four games in their last 47 tries and has a young core of players who are constantly being told to believe in what they are building. The question is, even though what they are building could be special, won't all these losses exhaust players like Nerlens Noel, KJ McDaniels and Michael Carter-Williams? A losing atmosphere is not a great one for talented young players, but it is where they end up sometimes due to the draft. A lot of young players build momentum from confidence, which cannot be easy to find as the losses continue to pile up. Wednesday night, the Sixers had a chance to win, with Boston having lost three straight prior. Unfortunately, the first quarter was really the only good quarter they played. MCW shot poorly and KJ McDaniels was limited to just 11 minutes. The Celtics scored 24 points off of the Sixers 16 turnovers and rode that to an 11 point win.
Over the past week, Suns guard Eric Bledsoe made it known that he thought the Kentucky Wildcats could beat the Sixers in a series.
“I’m definitely taking Kentucky,” Bledsoe told Brian Geltzeiler and Malik Rose Wednesday morning on SiriusXM Radio when asked who would in a 7-game series. “I think Philly would get probably, maybe one game. I know they’re (Sixers fans) gonna be mad, but I love my Wildcats.“
Sixers guard Tony Wroten didn't take kindly to the comment and could use that as motivation in tonight's game.
“Nah, they can’t beat us,” Wroten replied. “He’s crazy.”
“Yeah, it’s insulting,” Wroten said. “He might be serious, but I know Bledsoe. I’m not going to take it personally.”
There will definitely be times tonight where Bledsoe and Wroten will be guarding one another, so that is something to look for tonight.
Game Notes:
- Since returning from his shoulder surgery, Michael Carter-Williams is averaging 14.8 points per game. His jumper is showing plenty of rust though, as the reigning ROY is shooting just 36.2% from the floor. MCW averaged 24.5 points, 8.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds in two games against the Suns last season
- The Sixers are just four losses away from tying their franchise-worst start of 0-15 from 1972-73.
- The Suns are just ahead of the Sixers in points allowed per game with 104.2, good for 25th in the NBA.
- The 0-11 Sixers are last in the NBA in points per game with 88.6 and also in shooting percentage (40.2%) and free throw percentage (64.3%).
LINEUPS
Sixers
PG Michael Carter-Williams
SG Hollis Thompson
SF Luc Mbah a Moute
PF Nerlens Noel
C Henry Sims
Suns
PG Eric Bledsoe
SG Goran Dragic
SF Marcus Morris
PF Markieff Morris
C Miles Plumee
Injuries: Joel Embiid, Jerami Grant and Jason Richardson are all out for the Sixers. The Suns have no injuries to report.
Prediction: The Sixers have shown fight through the season, but haven't proven to put together a solid four quarters. Same story tonight with Phoenix coming out on top 106-97.
Brandon Apter is a writer for Sixerdelphia.com
