By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (13-9) are back in action on Monday night as they play host to the Phoenix Suns (8-16) in what should be a fun game with a lot of young talent on both rosters. The Sixers enter tonight's matchup winning seven of their last 10 while the Suns have lost seven of their last 10. Philadelphia is led by second-year big man Joel Embiid and rookie Ben Simmons. Phoenix has an impressive core of young players as well, highlighted by Devin Booker, Josh Jackson and TJ Warren. The Sixers and Suns boast two of the youngest rosters in the NBA, with an average age of 24.7 and 24.5, respectively.
Last season, the two teams split the season series with each winning at home. The Sixers beat the Suns in Philadelphia, 120-115, for their third win of the season last November and then the Suns defeated the Sixers, 123-116, out west despite a 27-point effort from Joel Embiid.
If you're reading this, you're probably a Sixers fan and are well aware of the impressive core of youth the team has to this point. The duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid has not disappointed this season. Let's start with the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month winner, Ben Simmons. After missing an entire season due to a foot fracture, Simmons has been everything he's been advertised as and more to this point in the season. The former LSU product is averaging 17.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game, all which lead rookies, while shooting 50.3 percent from the floor. It'll be interesting to see how Simmons responds to one of his worst offensive games of this season. The Pistons defended Simmons well as he finished with just five points on six shots, but he still managed to fill the stat sheet with 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Embiid is averaging 23.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. Joel was a little rusty his last game, shooting 7-for-21 from the field, but still managed to score 25 and grab 10 rebounds. Over his last five, Embiid is averaging a little lower than his season averages in scoring (19.6) and rebounds (9.8), but has been getting to the line more often, hitting 35 of 43 from the stripe in that five-game stretch.
Also, let's not forget about Dario Saric. He's been good, especially as of late. After shooting just 35.6 percent during October, Saric's November shooting percentage jumped up to 42.9. Over the last five games alone, the Homie is averaging 17.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, shooting 52.5 percent from the floor. He has 59 points and 25 rebounds over the last three games.
On the other side of the court, the Suns have an up and coming group of young players led by third-year guard Devin Booker. Averaging 23.6 points and shooting 45.4 percent from the floor, Booker is shooting over 50 percent over his last five games and is coming off of a 38-point effort in a five-point loss to the Eastern Conference leading Celtics. He had 21 points at halftime on 8-for-11 shooting. Over his last seven, he's averaging 25.5 points per game.
2017 draftee Josh Jackson is off to a slow-ish start to his career. Starting just four of the Suns' 24 games thus far, Jackson is averaging 9.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, shooting 39.5 percent from the floor and an abysmal 23.7 percent from beyond the arc. Those numbers are well off of his statistics at Kansas last season, where he shot 51.3 percent from the floor and 37.8 percent from three-point range. He had his most impressive game of his young career thus far last Wednesday against the Pistons, scoring 20 points (9-19 FG) to go along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, fourth-year forward TJ Warren has been solid this season for Phoenix, averaging 18.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor. He put up 19 points and seven rebounds in the Suns' loss to Boston over the weekend.
Point guard Tyler Ulis is another young player to watch in his second year out of Kentucky. He's only averaging 7.9 points and 3.8 assists this season, but has picked it up as of late, averaging 10.8 points per game over the last five. The Suns also start 20-year-old power foward Marquese Chriss, who is averaging 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 20 minutes per game this season.
Projected Lineups/Team Comparison
| Matchup Preview | December 4, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Phoenix Suns (8-16, 4-7 Away) |
Philadelphia 76ers (13-9, 7-4 Home) |
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Game Information
Tip-off: 7pm
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Stream: NBCSPhilly.com, NBC Sports App
