Tuesday night the Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets met at the Wells Fargo Center. The game did not go in the way of the home team as Charlotte won the game by 15 points. The Hornets had four of their five starters score in double figures, led by Nicolas Batum who finished with a triple-double line of 19pts, 11 rebs and 12 asts. Philadelphia was paced by forward Robert Covington who had 18 pts and 7 rebs.
The Sixers played that game once again without the services of Jerami Grant and Nerlens Noel who are both nursing knee contusions. At the time this preview is being written it looks as if they will be without both players again for tonight's game. At this point in the season, the only thing that the Sixers could be playing for is at least one more win. A win that would help them escape a chance at tying the NBA and the teams all time losing record of 9-73, which has been discussed to exhaustion the last few weeks. The process that was laid out to the city and it's fans and they were told to expect some bad basketball for awhile. Some calculated moves by the front office, particularly Sam Hinkie, supposedly would eventually get the franchise to a point of competing year in and year out. Hopefully in respect to the growth of the current players, and the players who figure into this team's future, this will be the last year that they will have to deal with such futility, if not, "The Process" will just end up being a huge disappointment.
Let's take a look at some game notes for tonight's matchup:
For Philadelphia–
- Robert Covington made 6-of-14 three-pointers as he scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds last game against the Hornets
- Guard Nik Stauskas led the bench with 13 points in 33 minutes against the Hornets
- The Sixers connected on 16-of-44 from three-point range last game. The 16 makes tied a franchise-record which was set earlier this season (November 27 at Houston), according to Basketball-Reference.
For Charlotte–
- Cody Zeller logged his fifth double-double this year with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the game at Philadelphia
- Charlotte had an advantage in points in the paint 48-22 and out rebounded the Sixers on a season-high 65 rebounds to Philadelphia’s 45
- Nicolas Batum notched his second triple-double of the season and sixth in his career with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, marking the first time a Charlotte player had multiple triple-doubles in a season since Baron Davis did so in 2000-01
Here are the projected lineups for tonight's game:
Sixers–
PG- Ish Smith 12.5 ppg, 6.5 apg
SG- Isaiah Cannan 10.8 ppg, 1.8 apg
SF- Hollis Thompson 9.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg
PF- Robert Covington 12.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg
C- Carl Landry 8.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg
Injuries-
Nerlens Noel and Jerami Grant (right knee contusion) are questionable. Joel Embiid (right foot injury), Richaun Holmes (right Achilles strain) and Jahlil Okafor (right knee injury) are out.
Hornets–
PG- Kemba Walker 21.0 ppg, 5.2 apg
SG- Courtney Lee 9.9 ppg, 1.6 apg
SF- Nicolas Batum 15.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg
PF- Marvin Williams 11.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg
C- Cody Zeller 9.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg
Injuries-
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – (right shoulder surgery) out indefinitely since 2/19 Jeremy Lin (sore low back), Questionable
Game Information:
Location- Time Warner Cable Arena – Charlotte, N.C.
Time- 7pm
TV- CSN
Radio- 97.5 The Fanatic
