By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (10-25) are back in action tonight as the New York Knicks (17-21) come to town for the first of four meetings between the teams this season. The Sixers are looking for their fourth win in the last five games while New York has lost eight of the last nine.
Although they may not match-up to start the game, tonight will mark the first game that features up and coming big men in Joel Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis. We’ve seen Joel Embiid go up against a handful of challenging centers and power forwards, but Porzingis has the ability to wreak havoc on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball with plenty of quickness.
Last Meeting:
The Sixers and Knicks last met in the final games of the 2015-16 season, with New York winning 109-102 although they nearly blew a 19-point lead. A flu-ridden Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points and the Sixers front court was outworked by Robin Lopez, who finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds. The Sixers cut the lead to 102-100 late in the fourth, but the Knicks responded with a basket and some foul shots to seal the win. For Philadelphia, Robert Covington scored a career-high 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds while Nerlens Noel added 17 points and 10 boards.
Embiid’s All-Star Campaign reaches new levels:
It’s no surprise to anyone that people have embraced Joel Embiid’s All-Star campaign, but on Tuesday, it reached a new level. Embiid tweeted at former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie and though he only has about 12 tweets to his account, he responded pretty quickly, telling Embiid that he will see him in New Orleans. In addition, the Sixers are offering Embiid’s favorite drink, Shirley Temple’s, for $5 at tonight’s game and are also sending the media a recipe and ingredients to Joel’s beverage of choice. In the first release of All-Star voting last week, Embiid was listed in fourth among Eastern Conference front court players.
Rose fined for unexcused absence:
Knicks point guard Derrick Rose missed the teams’ last game and no one really knew where he was. He never showed up to practice or the arena and it was later found out that he was back in Chicago spending time with his family. Rose was fined, but should be in uniform for the Knicks tonight in Philadelphia.
“It was a family issue, it had nothing to do with the team or basketball,” Rose told reporters on Tuesday. “That’s the first time I ever felt like that emotionally and I had to be with my family.” [NYPost.com]
He felt that he needed to get to his family right away and didn’t alert the team until afterwards. The Knicks were blown out against a lowly Pelicans team without Rose and Carmelo Anthony got ejected in the process.
Covington struggling on offense, thriving on defense:
To the common fan, watching a Sixers game may get you infuriated at a guy like Robert Covington. He’s been pretty consistent from long range during his tenure in Philadelphia, but this year has been a gigantic step back from previous seasons. He’s shooting 35.1 percent overall and 28.2 percent from beyond the arc, but keeps shooting anyway. Covington doesn’t really let much shake him, because if his offense isn’t working, he makes up for it on the defensive end of things.
Perfect example…on January 3, Covington was mired in a 4-for-13 shooting slump, but was very active on defense, tallying four steals while also grabbing 10 rebounds. He hit the game-winning layup in the final seconds to give Philadelphia a 93-91 victory. He finds ways to make an impact, even when the shot isn’t falling. In three games this month, Covington is averaging just 12.3 points per game, but is making up for it with eight rebounds and a league-leading four steals per game. RoCo is ranked 10th in the NBA this season in steals with 1.8 per game.
Previous Game Rewind:
Sixers: Philadelphia put a horrendous first half behind them on Sunday to secure their 10th win of the season, which matches their total from a year ago. The Sixers rebounded from a sloppy first half that saw them trailing by 11 and shooting under 33 percent to take their first lead of the game in the third quarter, thanks to a 13-0 run out of the half. Philadelphia put together an 11-0 spurt late in the fourth to put the game out of reach. The Sixers outscored Brooklyn 59-38 in the second half en route to a comfortable 105-95 win.
Knicks: New York fell to the Pelicans 110-96, losing their eighth game in their last nine tries. Missing Derrick Rose didn’t help, but Carmelo Anthony was ejected and Anthony Davis dominated, scoring 40 points to go along with 18 rebounds. New Orleans used a 31-15 third quarter to jump out to a 91-66 lead, one the Knicks couldn’t ever get close to overcoming.
| Matchup Preview | January 11, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| New York Knicks (17-21, 6-13 Away) |
Philadelphia 76ers (10-25, 6-14 Home) |
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Game Information:
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
