Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (18-30) continue their four-game road trip tonight with a stop in San Antonio against the Spurs (37-11). The Sixers have been mired in a mini-slump as of late, losing three of their last four games while the Spurs have won six of their last eight. San Antonio, though, has had some issues against teams below .500 with six of their 11 losses coming to those teams.
Philadelphia will be without Joel Embiid again and Robert Covington’s status is unknown after missing Wednesday night’s game with a right hand contusion.
The Sixers are coming off a 113-95 loss to the Mavericks last night and it wasn’t pretty. They were out-rebounded by the worst rebounding team in the league and Mavs reserve center Salah Mejri had 17 boards to go along with 16 points, well above his averages on the season of 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 points per game. Jahlil Okafor got the start and only managed one rebound in 24 minutes of action, something that needs to be fixed. Philadelphia led by three after one and hung around to trail by just three at the half. Dallas pulled away in the third, outscoring the Sixers by nine before closing out the win by eight. Okafor finished with 16 points while Ersan Ilyasova had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Spurs topped the Thunder 108-94 their last time out behind a 36-point effort from Kawhi Leonard. San Antonio held OKC guard Russell Westbrook scoreless in the final quarter after coughing up an 18-point lead in the third. The Spurs bench outscored the Thunder 15-2 to start the fourth and by the time the starters returned, it was too late. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 25 points and six rebounds.
Game Notes:
- Since December 30, Philadelphia has posted a record of 11-4.
- The Spurs have won 10 straight against the Sixers dating back to February 11, 2011. They’ve also beaten them 11 consecutive times at home.
- Kawhi Leonard is averaging a career-high 25.6 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting.
- Since Brett Brown became head coach of the 76ers, the Spurs have won each contest by an average of 22.5 points.
- The Sixers and Spurs will meet twice in the next six days. They’ll play in Philadelphia on February 8.
| Matchup Preview | February 2, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (18-30, 6-15 Away) |
San Antonio Spurs (37-11, 17-6 Home) |
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Game Information:
Tip-off: 8:30 p.m.
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
TV: TCN-PHI
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
