Sixers
Sixers look to cool off red-hot Heat on Saturday night
Published04 Feb 2017
By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly Staff
The Philadelphia 76ers(18-31) go out on the road to face the Miami Heat(20-30) on Saturday night. The Sixers have struggled as of late, losing four of their last five games. Coming off of back-to-back losses to Texas teams in the Mavs and Spurs, the Sixers will hope that South Beach treats them a little bit nicer.
The hard part in this matchup is the face that Philadelphia has to go up against a red-hot Heat team, winners of their last nine games, the longest active winning streak in the NBA.
The Heat are led by center Hassan Whiteside, who averages almost 14 rebounds a game. Goran Dragic is averaging 19.9 points per game for Miami as well.
Guarding Whiteside will be a tough order to get through for the Sixers, especially without Joel Embiid on the floor. Embiid has been sidelined with a left knee contusion after re-injuring it against the Houston Rockets last Friday night. The Sixers have been without their star center ever since. The Sixers will look to roll with big men Nerlens Noel and Ersan Ilyasova who will try to limit the impact that Whiteside has down in the post.
The Sixers are coming off of a 102-86 loss at the San Antonio Spurs that wasn't nearly as bad as it could of been. A 25 point, 10 rebound night for Ersan Ilyasova helped the Sixers stay close in the first half, while the Spurs took over late. Dario Saric had a 14 point, nine rebound night and played Kawhi Leonard tough throughout the matchup. The Sixers did what they had to do in the game without key players Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Robert Covington.
The Heat defeated the Atlanta Hawks 116-93 their last time out on the court. Miami got a solid 27 points from Goran Dragic off of four three-pointers. Dion Waiters had 20 points, and Whiteside added 18 for the Heat. The Heat shot 48.4 percent from the floor and went 12-of-32 from downtown. Miami as a unit also tacked on 60 rebounds and 23 assists for the night. The win for the Heat was their ninth straight, as they continue to improve game in and game out.
Game Notes:
- Since December 30, the Sixers have a record of 11-5.
- The last time these two teams played, the Sixers defeated the Heat at the Wells Fargo Center, 101-94. Before the November 21 victory, Miami beat Philadelphia in five straight meetings. The Sixers haven't won at the American Airlines Arena since December 2014.
- Joel Embiid will miss his fifth straight game since last Friday vs. the Rockets. Nerlens Noel is also questionable, as the big-man defense has a few holes for Philadelphia.
- The Sixers will host the Heat a week from Saturday, as Miami heads to Philly on February 11.
| Matchup Preview | February 4, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (18-31, 6-16 Away) |
Miami Heat (20-30, 12-13 Home) |
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