Sixers look to beat undefeated Celtics, improve tournament seeding

By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Philadelphia 76ers (1-1) Summer League team gets another chance to take on the Boston Celtics (2-0) in a matter of a couple weeks.

The last time the Sixers had a chance to take on Boston was in the Utah Summer League with the Sixers falling.

This time, the Sixers are without Markelle Fultz, and the Celtics have been unbelievably impressive in the games they have already played.

Jayson Tatum has risen above many expectations this summer so far, and in my eyes, Tatum has a really good shot at being named the MVP of this league for the summer.

The Sixers have found ways to be victorious without Fultz in the lineup before, but they were unable to overcome the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday Night. Bryn Forbes went off again for the Spurs, something the Sixers were all too familiar with just a week removed from their matchup in Utah.

For the Sixers, they will need a win to make sure their spot in the tournament portion of Summer League is near the top. Currently sitting at 1-1, the Sixers are right in the middle of the pack.

The Celtics have a chance to go undefeated going into the tournament round, and are in really good shape to end up winning this entire thing. It's unsurprising, however, as Boston had one of the more intimidating lineups going into the summer thanks in large part to their last two first-rounders, Tatum and Jaylen Brown.


Another Sixer will debut:

The Sixers will be able to take a look at their other second-round draft pick in Mathias Lessort when the team takes on the C's in Vegas on Tuesday night.

Their other second round draft selection, Jonah Bolden, has already played in both the Utah and Vegas Summer Leagues and has been impressive to say the least.

Lessort, the frenchman, is more of a 'traditional' center, and brings a lot to the table in terms of post play and defense.

Lessort was cleared to play summer league starting tonight after receiving a clearance from FIBA in order to play overseas.

Both Lessort and first-rounder Anzejs Pasecniks will both stay overseas for the regular season, but it has seemed like an importance for both Jonah Bolden, Lessort, and Furkan Korkmaz to come overseas to the States and get in some reps with their NBA team.

It's unclear whether or not Lessort will come over for the foreseeable future, but it's a good look that he is actually making the trip over to Vegas to play for his drafted team.

For more information on Lessort coming over for Summer League, check out Sixerdelphia's Brandon Apter's article from earlier today.


Sixers to look out for:

There are few Sixers to watch out for in Tuesday night's matchup with the Boston Celtics, even though Markelle Fultz will not play for the remainder of the Summer League.

One Sixer that has been impressive for the squad is Aaron Harrison.

Harrison has made the shots that have been necessary for the team and has been a key part of both games, especially when Fultz went down with the injury. Harrison stepped into a situation and really played well.

The former Kentucky standout even leads the Sixers in points this summer, averaging nearly 14 points per game and four rebounds per game in only an average of 15 minutes on the floor.

It will be interesting to see if Harrison keeps up that pace in tonight's game, and also what kind of role the Sixers will put Harrison into for this contest.

The Sixers' second-leading scorer is Furkan Korkmaz, and for Korkmaz, this is a pretty good stat for him.

Korkmaz started off summer league in Utah and really struggled to find his stroke, and it almost seemed like it was very uncomfortable for him while he was out on the court.

Not surprising though, as he has pretty much forced himself over to the States without any NBA experience or even playing here. Quite the undertaking for a 19 year-old kid.

Luckily, Korkmaz has seemed to ease himself into playing with the Sixers and is still averaging nearly 14 points per game, which is a lot better than how he was playing when Summer League started.

And finally, thanks to Keith Pompey for the indirect answer to my question (he tweeted right as I was asking), Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot will be available to play for the Sixers tonight after missing the last game and most of the first game with a lip laceration on the same play that Markelle Fultz sprained his ankle on.

Keep an eye out for TLC tonight, as he will definitely play a key role for the team, coming back from injury.

 

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