By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly Staff
The Philadelphia 76ers(12-25) head back on to the road to take on the Washington Wizards(19-19) on Saturday night. The game marks the Sixers first away game since just a week ago when the team defeated the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center. The Sixers have now won five of their last six games, including three straight wins and continue to push through their tough schedule, and they have looked good while doing it. The Sixers will travel to Milwaukee to face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks(20-18), and then head back home to face the Eastern Conference's second best team, the Toronto Raptors(26-13). With the Sixers in full flight right now, reeling off victory after victory, it will be interesting to see if they show that same kind of mojo on the road in DC.
Last Meeting:
The last time the Sixers and the Wizards met was on November 16, when Washington visited the Wells Fargo Center, as the 76ers came away with a 109-102 victory. The Sixers were 2-9 at the time and were looking for any kind of chance to pull off a victory. Fortunately for Philadelphia, Jahlil Okafor stepped up to the plate and scored 19 points for the team. The Wizards were for the most part extremely injury-plagued, especially with injuries to Bradley Beal and John Wall, as their start to the campaign was almost as tumultuous. A 2-8 start to the season for Washington was something that wasn't exactly forseen, and didn't last long as key players started to get healthy again. The Sixers were without Joel Embiid in the first matchup, due to his lack of minutes to start the season, but tonight will be Washington's first glance at "The Process" this season.
Joel Embiid making a name for himself in the spotlight:
The All-Star campaign continues for Joel Embiid as the voting will wrap up shortly. He currently sits in fourth in the Eastern Conference voting for frontcourt players. Before Friday night's game, WWE's Triple H tweeted his endorsement for Embiid's All-Star candidacy after Embiid showed support for the wrestler following the win vs. the Knicks on Wednesday night. In player intros, Embiid entered the game to Triple H's theme song, as he subsequently spit water out the same way Triple H did in his time in the business. The move sparked an immediate viral response online, and garnered the attention of Triple H once again.
Jahlil Okafor to play for first time in four games:
The news for the Sixers on Saturday will be that they plan on resting Embiid after his long stretch of playing, especially after tweaking his ankle on Wednesday vs. the Knicks. Because of Embiids rest and restrictions from back-to-back games, this mean's fans will be able to see Jahlil Okafor play some minutes for the first time in four games.
“He has been unbelievable,” Brett Brown told CSN on Friday “You want to talk about a young man going through a life lesson … to date, it has been all class, all professional. He hasn’t backed off a second from his work ethic and putting in his time. His day is going to be tomorrow. My level of appreciation and respect for Jahlil Okafor has grown dramatically.”
Nerlens Noel will also see increased minutes, but we will finally be able to see how Okafor contributes in the position that Embiid has already claimed as his own. This will also be a test to see how Okafor plays as the Trade Deadline looms in the distance.
Previous Game Rewind:
Sixers: The Sixers came off a ton of momentum from Wednesday's buzzer-beating win over the Knicks, and were looking for that same kind of firepower against a tough Charlotte Hornets team led by Nicolas Batum and others. Joel Embiid had 24 points and 8 rebounds, and Dario Saric provided meaningful minutes off the bench with 15 points. The Sixers shot 47.4% from the field and went 16-of-20 from the free throw line. The key to the victory for the Sixers was that they took an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Hornets 102-93.
Wizards: The Wizards lost a tough game vs. the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, falling 117-108. The Wizards stayed in the contest throughout, until the Celtics and Isaiah Thomas pulled away in the fourth quarter. Washington enjoyed a performance from Bradley Beal who put up 35 points. John Wall only had nine points, but also added 10 assists to his total. Otto Porter Jr. also had 20 points, and six rebounds, with five assists and three steals.
| Matchup Preview | January 14, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (12-25, 4-11 Away) |
Washington Wizards (19-19, 15-6 Home) |
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