By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (13-11) have lost two straight and four of their last six. Tonight, they'll have a tall task to conquer in the Cleveland Cavaliers (18-8), who have won 13 of the last 14 games. The Sixers will be without their star center, Joel Embiid, since he's not yet been cleared for back-to-backs. In addition, T.J. McConnell will not play due to an ongoing shoulder injury. Dario Saric wasn't expected to suit up with a left eye laceration and a corneal abrasion in his right eye, but is now available to play.
Philadelphia is coming off two disappointing losses at the hands of two teams they could have beat in the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers. Devin Booker scored 46 points on the Sixers this past Monday, leading the Suns to victory. On Thursday, Brandon Ingram hit a last-second triple to propel the Lakers past the Sixers, who struggled with sloppy play and turnovers all night.
The Sixers and Cavs met in Philadelphia not too long ago, with Cleveland emerging victorious 113-91, thanks to an impressive 30-point, 13 rebound performance from LeBron James. The Sixers were never really in the game from the start and right when they seemed to get on a run, James took over, defeating any chance of Philadelphia getting too close. At the time, Cleveland beat Philadelphia for their eighth straight win and went on to nab five more victories before losing to the Pacers on Friday night, 106-102. So, the Cavs will be facing a shorthanded Sixers team on the back end of of back-to-back.
Cleveland took a 13-game win streak into Indiana on Friday, but a Victor Oladipo triple with just over a minute to play gave the Pacers a 103-97 lead, one they would not relinquish. LeBron filled the stat sheet per usual with 29 points, 10 boards and eight assists while Kevin Love scored 20 in the Cavs' first loss since November 9.
As we mentioned before, the Sixers will be without Embiid, who will sit on the front end of the teams' back-to-back that concludes Sunday in New Orleans. The 7-foot-2 big man scored 30 points in the Sixers' first meeting with the Cavs this season. Ben Simmons left early with an injury the last time out against Cleveland, scoring 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and two assists. The Sixers will rely heavily on a bench unit that has struggled. With the exception of Richaun Holmes, who scored 13 points in an energetic performance against L.A., the Sixers reserves didn't score a point.
Philadelphia will have newly-acquired forward Trevor Booker available tonight. The former Brooklyn Net joined the team on Friday for practice and could see extended minutes against Cleveland. If Philadelphia will have any chance tonight, they'll need to get consistent play from both Robert Covington and J.J. Redick, both of whom have been very streaky recently. The Sixers' injury situation could also lead to more minutes for rookie Furkan Korkmaz, who's been flipped back and forth between the Sixers' G-League team nearly 20 times this season.
Projected Starters
| Matchup Preview | December 9, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (13-11, 6-5 Away) |
Cleveland Cavaliers (18-8, 9-4 Home) |
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Game Information
Tip-off: 8pm
Location: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
