The Philadelphia 76ers (5-28) and the Milwaukee Bucks (18-18) will go head-to-head tonight for the second of four games this season.
The two teams first met back on Halloween night, where O.J. Mayo's 25 points led Milwaukee to their first win of the season, 93-81. Power-forward Nerlens Noel secured his first-career double-double that night with 14 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-for-11 from the floor.
As Matt Haughton of CSNPhilly writes, the Sixers will look for the first winning streak at home since starting the 2013-2014 season 3-0. They were 10-31 at the Wells Fargo Center that year, and thus far in 2014-2015 they are just 1-14. Monday, the Sixers bested the Cavaliers without two of Cleveland's three stars, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
One of the stars for Milwaukee, Jabari Parker, suffered a season-ending injury last month after tearing his ACL in his left knee. He was the second selection in the 2014 NBA Draft, following Andrew Wiggins to Cleveland (eventually traded to Minnesota), and preceding Philadelphia's selection of Joel Embiid.
What to Watch For:
The Sixers look to even-up their all-time record against Milwaukee in the regular season, 97 wins each.
NBA.com's Doug Ammon writes of a particularly intriguing matchup to pay close attention to in tonight's game between Philadelphia's Robert Covington and Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo:
This could be Covington’s most unique matchup all season, as the 6’9” small forward will be pitted against the 6’11” Antetokounmpo. Both players have been on a tear of late with RC3 scoring 23 and 16 in his last two games, respectively, and The Greek Freak tallying two straight games of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Covington typically holds a noticeable size advantage over the players he mans up against, but Antetokounmpo, who some say has grown to above seven feet tall since entering the league last year, will be a different challenge. He is a supreme athlete despite his height, but Covington will exploit him from behind the arc, where the second-year Buck allows shooters to convert at a clip 4.2% above their average. On the year, Covington is shooting 44.3% from beyond the arc on 5.1 attempts per game.
Game Information:
- Tip-off: 7:00 pm EST
- TV: CSN Philly | Radio: 97.5 FM
- Sixers injuries | Bucks injuries
Atlantic Division Standings:
- Toronto Raptors (24-10)
- Brooklyn Nets (16-18, 8.0 GB)
- Boston Celtics (11-21, 12.0 GB)
- Philadelphia 76ers (5-28, 18.5 GB)
- New York Knicks (5-32, 20.5 GB)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Sixerdelphia.com.
