By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (2-9) are in Minnesota for the second half of their back-to-back against the Timberwolves (3-7). Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m. on TNT as Joel Embiid and reigning Rookie of the Year Karl-Anothony Towns square-off on the national stage. The Sixers are fresh off of their second win of the season on Wednesday against Washington while Minnesota fell to the Hornets their last time out.
Philadelphia earned their second win of the season yesterday against a struggling Wizards team at the Wells Fargo Center. Without Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor led the way with 19 points and five rebounds while Dario Saric notched a double double off the bench with 13 points and 12 boards. The Sixers reserves outscored the Wizards bench 48-23. Nik Stauskas had 15 while Hollis Thompson added 11 of his own. Ersan Ilyasova finished with 16 and Gerald Henderson scored 14.
Tonight, the focus will be on Joel Embiid, who is coming off of a 13 point, 10 rebound performance on Monday against the Houston Rockets. After sitting out the first game of the Sixers' back-to-back, Embiid will take the court against phenom Karl-Anthony Towns. Meanwhile, Jahlil Okafor will be available for 18-20 minutes this evening after playing 20 minutes on Wednesday before fouling out.
The Timberwolves were outscored by the Hornets 36-17 in the third quarter in their last game against Hornets en route to a 115-108 loss. Prior to that contest, Minnesota had won two of three. Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points to top 'Wolves scorers while Towns had 21 points to go along with eight rebounds. Wiggins helped rally the team late in the fourth, giving them a 92-91 lead, but Charlotte responded with six straight points to seal the win. The Sixers will have to make sure they defend the perimeter as the T'Wolves are shooting a league-best 41.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Philadelphia took the last meeting between the two teams, 109-99 back on January 4, 2016, and have beaten the Timberwolves three out of the last four times. Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor each had 10 points while Ish Smith led the team with 21. Richaun Holmes scored 17 off the bench. Karl-Anthony Towns was held to eight points and six rebounds. Andrew Wiggins finished with 16. That was the Sixers' fourth win of the year. On November 23, 2015, Jahlil Okafor dominated the one-on-one battle with Towns, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 boards. KAT had just six points.
| Matchup Preview | November 17, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (2-9, 0-4 Away) |
Minnesota Timberwolves (3-7, 2-3 Home) |
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Quotable:
Jahlil Okafor on being able to close out the game against Washington on Wednesday:
“We’ve been, obviously, in a lot of tough games,” Jahlil Okafor said. “I think we did a better job today of staying composed, we didn’t turn the ball over, and we had some really key stops that we needed. It’s good to see all the hard work is paying off.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Brett Brown on Embiid sitting at home against the Wizards:
"It's just the rhythm that the medical staff has put him on," Brown said. "And I think you look back — back-to-back-type games and those types of things, with the time in between, they felt like … if we had a choice, this game was going to be it. So I follow the marching orders of smarter people than myself." [ESPN.com]
Nik Stauskas on playing in front of a national audience on TNT:
“It’s exciting. Any time you get to play national TV games, you get a little bit more excited for it. You know there’s going to be a few more people watching,” said the Michigan product, who spent his first season with Sacramento.
“For me, I really haven’t played on national TV since college. My first two years, we just haven’t had many ESPN or TNT kind of games. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and hopefully we show well.” [Sixers.com]
TNT Broadcaster Kevin Harlan on the Embiid/Towns match-up:
“Towns is terrific, a very unique talent,” TNT play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan told The BroadCast in a recent interview. Harlan, along with analyst Reggie Miller and sideline reporter Lewis Johnson, will call Thursday’s broadcast. “These are young, very intriguing players, and I hopeful Embiid falls right in line. There’s no reason why he can’t. He’s got that kind of talent, we’ve already seen it at the NBA level. He’s probably the kind of player that, if he does stay healthy, will command that same kind of stage that Karl-Anthony did last year as a rookie. You can see what [the Sixers] saw, and you can see where he could be going.” [Sixers.com]
Game Information:
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
TV: TNT
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
