By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Tip-off: 7:30 pm ❖ Location: New York, NY ❖ TV: NBCSP+ ❖ Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
The Philadelphia 76ers (36-30) kick-off a back-to-back tonight with game one in New York against the Knicks (24-44). This game is a very winnable one for the Sixers, who come in off of a tough loss to the Pacers on their home court on Tuesday. The Knicks have lost eight in a row and 16 of their last 17, sitting well outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Luckily, both the eighth-seeded Heat and seventh-seeded Bucks lost on Wednesday, so the Sixers remain in sixth for the time being, one game ahead of Milwaukee and 1.5 games back of Washington for the fifth seed. That being said, the Sixers have had their fair share of issues against Eastern Conference playoff teams all season, posting a 9-16 record against the current other seven teams.
"The fact is that we have not been able to get through the Miamis, the Washingtons, the Milwaukees and tonight the Indianas," Brett Brown said after Tuesday's loss. "With each one of those games, we learn a little bit about what we need to get better for the playoffs. I think there's tremendous learning power out of these games."
If the Sixers plan to win any game, they need to fix an issue that has plagued them all season – turnovers. They've done well to cut down on their miscues since the turn of the calendar, but they reverted back to their old ways on Tuesday, committing 21 turnovers that resulted in 29 points for the Pacers.
“I think it’s hard to expedite people’s birth certificate,” Brett Brown said. “I think you’re seeing young guys, if you go to who and where, we have to get better with some individuals. As a team, we have to get better. Some of it I have to own. When you look at the trending that’s been going on, say after the All-Star Break, I think we have been improving. Tonight wasn’t one of those nights.”
One of the Sixers' young superstars was a big factor in the turnover-plagued loss as big man Joel Embiid coughed the ball up eight times, holding the ball too long on numerous occasions and perhaps being a little too reckless with his style of play, despite finishing with 29 points and 12 rebounds. The loss hit Embiid hard as he did not speak with reporters following this one.
Meanwhile, the Sixers hung around for a good part of this one and even had the opportunity to steal a win at the end, despite the Pacers being in control for the majority. After taking six shots in the first half, Ben Simmons took four in the third and none in the fourth. On Wednesday, I wrote a piece titled One thing keeps Ben Simmons from being elite: The 4th quarter. Simmons' shooting splits shows that his offense dissipates when the team is behind, so it'll be interesting to see if he is more aggressive during all four quarters tonight.
Since the All-Star Break, the Sixers are 6-5. In the five losses, Simmons has taken a total of four fourth quarter shots compared to 14 during wins. He's taken zero shots in the fourth quarter in two of those losses against teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs (Washington, Indiana). In their first game following the All-Star Break, a one-point victory in Chicago, Ben took five shots in the fourth, showing the ability to come alive down the stretch. His fourth quarter numbers overall this season leave something to be desired and if this team is going to win a playoff series, they will need Simmons to play a bigger part in the offense in games that matter.
On the other side of the court, the Knicks continue to struggle without the services of Kristaps Porzingis, who remains out for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL. As mentioned before, they've lost eight in a row and 16 of their last 17.
The Knicks' most recent defeat comes at the hands of the 22-win Dallas Mavericks, a team that hadn't won on the road since early February. They handed the Knicks a 110-97 loss at Madison Square Garden, their seventh straight loss at home. New York led by three at halftime, but scored just 12 points in the third quarter, which allowed Dallas to pull away. Michael Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 21 and 19, respectively.
The last time these two team's met, TJ McConnell tallied his first career triple-double with 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. The former undrafted free agent out of Arizona is averaging 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists in two games against New York this season.
| Matchup Preview | March 15, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (36-30, 16-19 Away) |
New York Knicks (24-44, 16-16 Home) |
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