The Sixers will look to go streaking tonight as they take on the New York Knicks at WFC. The Sixers got their 16th win on the year Tuesday night against a mediocre Pistons team, and will look to build on that momentum. Not only did we get the win, but we also got to see Stan Van Gundy eat his words. Van Gundy has made it clear that he is a firm non-believer in what the Sixers are doing, so it serves him right to have been beat 3-1 by the Sixers in their season series.
Tonight’s opponent is also riding a little bit of a confidence streak as they took down the perennial power San Antonio Spurs earlier this week, but also fell to a fellow lottery team in the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks have been a huge disappointment this year and have little to be proud of in Derek Fisher’s rookie season. The Knicks are also without All Star Carmelo Anthony who has been shut down since after the All Star game.
This game obviously has draft implications. As it stands right now the the Knicks lead the Sixers by two games for the most ping pong balls, but in between them stands the Timberwolves at 15 wins. It’s hard to see much changing this by season’s end, but it will for sure come down to these three teams when it comes to getting the number one overall pick.
As much as a loss may help increase our chances of getting the top pick, I think the Sixers will light up the Knicks tonight. Ish Smith has been playing great basketball as of late averaging just around 13 points and 6 assists a game. The Sixers were without Nerlens Noel for the better part of Tuesday night’s win over the and Ish Smith really shined in his absence. He scored 15 points to go along with 8 assists. You can expect another strong performance out of him tonight as he goes up against rookie and St. Joes alum Langston Galloway.
Tip off is slated for 7 o'clock at WFC, and by the way the Sixers are favored in Vegas tonight so place your bets people!
Here is the starting lineups:
Sixers:
PG Ish Smith
SG Jason Richardson
SF Jakarr Sampson
PF L. Mbah a Moute
C Nerlens Noel (GTD)
Knicks:
PG Langston Galloway
SG Alexey Shved
SF Lance Thomas
PF Andrea Bargnani
C Louis Amundson
