Brandon Apter (@bapter23), Managing Editor
The Sixers (3-33), thanks to the addition of Ish Smith and the strong play of Nerlens Noel, picked up two wins on their six-game game road trip against the Kings and Suns. They now return home for a six-game homestand beginning tonight against the Timberwolves (12-22). Tonight's game pits rookies Jahlil Okafor and Karl Anthony-Towns for the second time this season. Minnesota beat Philadelphia earlier this season, 100-95, but Okafor (25pts, 12reb, 2blk) got the better of Towns (6pts, 2reb, 2blk), who dealt with foul trouble all game. Here's a comparison of the two courtesy of Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com
Sixers start stretch of 6 straight at home.'Wolves preview, w/ updated look at Okafor/Towns. https://t.co/VxYvck66Io pic.twitter.com/p5a4GKLrup
— Brian Seltzer (@brianseltzer) January 4, 2016
Philadelphia is coming off of a loss on Saturday against the Clippers, the second game of a back-to-back they had at the Staples center against both LA teams. On their road trip, they went 2-4 with wins coming in Phoenix and Sacramento, but they lost their final two against the Lakers, who they beat earlier this season to snap their 28-game losing skid, and Clippers. Philadelphia allowed a season-high 130 points in their 130-99 loss. The Sixers trailed by just two after one, but LA pulled away, outscoring Philadelphia by 15 in the second and 12 in the third. Jahlil Okafor came off the bench but ended up leading the Sixers with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting while Nik Stauskas and Nerlens Noel scored 18 and 13 respectively. Despite the loss, the Sixers rookie big man was impressed by his teams' progress over the road trip.
"We really made new strides on this trip," Okafor said. "We won two games and we have Ish Smith here now. He's a new piece to this team and we're all really excited about it." [ESPN.com]
Minnesota has lost six of their last seven games and is coming off of a 95-85 defeat to the Bucks after leading by as many as 15 at one point. After leading 28-15 after one, the Wolves were outscored 29-19, 28-23 and 23-15 in the remaining three quarters. Andrew Wiggins led the team with 19 points, six rebounds and three steals while Ricky Rubio finished with 14 points and seven assists. The loss dropped Minnesota to 5-13 at home this season. Karl Anthony-Towns had eight points and 10 boards but shot just 4-for-17 from the floor.
Game Notes:
- The Sixers are averaging 99.0 points, 22.8 assists and shot 43.1 percent in the five games since acquiring Ish Smith. Before then, they averaged 91.4 points and 18.8 assists with a 41.8 shooting percentage.
- Nerlens Noel's shooting percentage has jumped big time from 45.0 percent in 25 games without Smith to 70.8 percent over the past five games. The second year big-man out of Kentucky is averaging 16 points per game with Ish in the lineup compared to 9.8 before then.
- Ish Smith shot just 5-for-28 for 13 points and 13 assists combined in the Sixers final two road games against the Lakers and Clippers. He averaged 18 points and 8.3 assists while leading Philadelphia to a pair of wins in his first three games with the team.
- Philadelphia has won five out of the last seven meetings against Minnesota at home.
- Earlier today, reports surfaced of the Sixers intent to sign veteran forward, Elton Brand.
- Ricky Rubio has averaged 13.2 points, 7.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds against the Sixers during his career.
- Andrew Wiggins scored 32 points in the first meeting between these two teams, including 11 in the final quarter to seal Minnesota's victory.
Lineups:
Sixers
PG – Ish Smith - 9.6 ppg, 6.0 apg
SG – Isiah Canaan - 10.8 ppg, 2.0 apg
SF – Jerami Grant - 9.3 ppg, 1.6 bpg
PF – Nerlens Noel - 10.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg
C – Jahlil Okafor - 17.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg
Injuries: Joel Embiid (broken right foot rehab, out); Hollis Thompson (right corneal abrasion, out).
Timberwolves
PG – Ricky Rubio - 9.8 ppg, 9.0 apg
SG – Andrew Wiggins - 20.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg
SF – Tayshaun Prince - 2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg
PF – Kevin Garnett - 3.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg
C – Karl Anthony-Towns - 16.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg
Injuries: Nikola Pekovic ( right Achilles tendon surgery recovery, out)
Game Information:
Tip-off: 7:00pm
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
