The Sixers continue their 6 game holiday road trip visiting Phoenix to face the Suns tonight. It's been a rough stretch for both teams, the Suns dropping 5 of their last 6, and the Sixers on a well publicized one win season. Philly will have two new faces tonight, with associate head coach Mike D'Antoni on the bench for the first time this evening, and recently acquired familiar face possibly starting at point guard.
On Christmas eve, the Sixers acquired point guard Ishmael "Ish" Smith from the New Orleans Pelicans for two second round picks. In a related move, recently returned point guard Tony Wroten was waived. Since no players from Philadelphia were involved in the trade, the Sixers were forced waive a player to fit under the 15 man roster limit. In his time in Philly Wroten played hard, if not sometimes a little reckless, and was a fan favorite with his quick first step and highlight assists.
Ish Smith played for Brett Brown and the Sixers last season after being acquired as a free agent on Feb. 22, 2015. He was an instant success for the team in watchability even if it didn't necessarily translate into wins. Nerlens Noel said of Smith "I love that kid, he just finds me whenever I'm open and honestly, he's the first true point guard I've ever played with." after a game in March 2015. Smith posted career highs in minutes per game, points per 36 minutes, and assists per game, many to Noel. Offseason reports came out that the Sixers wanted to re-sign Smith, but he decided to sign a nonguaranteed deal with the Wizards, and claimed off of waivers by New Orleans after being waived. Hopefully Smith can provide some of the same impact that he provided when he was signed earlier this year.
The Suns are not without troubles of their own, suspending starting SF Markieff Morris for two games for "conduct detrimental to he team". Morris threw a towel at head coach head coach Jeff Hornacek in the fourth quarter of their 104-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 23. A disgruntled Morris has been publicly asking to be traded, especially after his twin brother Marcus was traded from the Suns to the Detroit Pistons before the 2015-2016 season. The Sixers may have a chance tonight to get their second win against a Phoenix team seemingly in turmoil.
Fortunately for the Sixers their injury report is relatively light compared to recent weeks, with only Joel Embiid definitely out for the game. Kendall Marshall has been seeing more time now that he's recovered from his ACL injury and forward Carl Landry is recovered from his wrist injury making his season debut against Milwaukee on Wednesday night with 10 points and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes of action.
Projected Starting Lineups:
Sixers:
PG: Ish Smith
SG: Isaiah Canaan
SF: Robert Covington
PF: Nerlens Noel
C: Jahlil Okafor
Injuries: Joel Embiid (foot)
Suns:
PG: Eric Bledsoe
SG: Brandon Knight
SF: T.J. Warren
PF: Jon Leuer
C: Alex Len
Injuries: Markieff Morris (team suspension)
Broadcast Information:
Game Time/Location: 9;00pm Eastern, Talking Stick Resort Arena
TV: CSN Philly
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Stream: csnphilly.com, NBCSports Live Extra mobile app
