By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (8-7) return to action on Monday night to take on the Utah Jazz (7-10) at the Wells Fargo Center with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The Jazz have lost three of their last four and seven of their last nine, but are coming off of an impressive 125-85 win on the road in Orlando. Meanwhile, Philadelphia dropped a disappointing contest to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, as the defending champs used a 47-point third quarter to erase a 24-point Sixers lead and secure the comeback win.
The Sixers and Jazz played each other in Utah back on November 8. Philadelphia won that one 104-97 despite being without the services of Joel Embiid. The 7-foot-2 big man is questionable tonight while the Jazz will be without one of their top big men in Rudy Gobert.
Power Up
Despite blowing a 24-point lead on Saturday, the NBA as a whole has started to recognize the talent the Sixers have on their roster. They still have a ways to go in order to get the right depth on their bench, but a starting five that includes the likes of Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, Robert Covington and Joel Embiid is a vast improvement over the lineups we've seen during the peak process years. Last week, Philadelphia went 2-1, sweeping the two L.A. teams and losing to Golden State, and both ESPN.com and NBA.com had the Sixers bumped up in their weekly power rankings. The Sixers jumped from No. 17 to No. 14 on ESPN and went from No. 18 all the way to No. 11 on NBA.com. Here's what the two sites had to say about the Sixers' recent stretch.
ESPN - A 47-point first quarter wasn't enough to beat the Warriors on Saturday. Philadelphia's 47 points are its most in any quarter since March 30, 1990, against the Nuggets (also 47 points in the first quarter of that game).
NBA.com - The Sixers' evolution from bad team to fun team, and eventually to good team and then to great team, is fascinating to watch. As they were running up a 22-point, halftime lead on the Warriors on Saturday (and before they lost the 3rd quarter by 32 points), the elements of a top-10 team on both ends of the floor could be seen pretty clearly. On offense, they have two serious matchup problems and complementary shooting. On defense, they have size, switchability and rim protection, with J.J. Redick being the only guy in the starting lineup (the league's best lineup among those that have played 75 minutes) under 6-foot-9. Before Saturday's roller-coaster game, last week saw career highs for Joel Embiid in playing time and rebounds (35:48 and 16 against the Clippers), points, assists and blocks (46, seven and seven against the Lakers), all at Staples Center. The Golden State loss began a stretch where they're playing nine of 10 games at home.
So far this season, the Sixers have had the most difficult schedule. Their ability to go 8-7 thus far is a statement to the work they've put in this season and the development of guys like Robert Covington, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
Walking Wounded
Both the Sixers and Jazz are dealing with their fair share of injuries this season. Utah has been without Joe Johnson and Dante Exum all year and just recently lost center Rudy Gobert to a right tibia contusion. Gobert was averaging 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds this season so far and the Jazz now have Derrick Favors as their starting center. The former third overall pick from 2010 has had very strong performances in his last two games, totaling 40 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and three blocks while shooting 65 percent from the floor.
Philadelphia, on the other hand, only played eight guys on Saturday against the Warriors. Their bench unit of Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, T.J. McConnell and Richaun Holmes combined to score just 19 points in 58 combined minutes between the three of them. TLC got an increase in minutes with Justin Anderson out for at least three weeks with shin splints and had 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting, but hit just one of five from beyond the arc. In addition to Anderson, the Sixers continue to be without Markelle Fultz and Nik Stauskas off the bench, but they will get some reinforcements on Monday night as Jerryd Bayless is set to return. Bayless hasn't played since November 3 due to a left wrist contusion. . Although the fan base doesn't seem to be big on Jerryd Bayless, his 11 points per game should help off the bench as he's shooting 46.1 percent from the floor and 42.2 percent from beyond the arc in nine games this season.
Joel Embiid is listed as questionable for tonight's game with left knee soreness. He told reporters after practice this morning that it's nothing to worry about and that the decision on whether he plays or not will be made by him. Richaun Holmes is also questionable with gastroenteritis. If by some chance neither of them play, we'd be looking at a frontcourt duo of Amir Johnson and Dario Saric at the five since Jahlil Okafor is nothing but a memory at this point.
Simmons Continues to Lead Rookie Class
Say what you want about how the Sixers should have taken Jayson Tatum over Fultz, but either way, the Rookie of the Year looks like it will go through Philadelphia this season. Sure, Tatum has been great for the Celtics, especially after the Gordon Hayward injury, but Simmons has been putting up record-breaking numbers all year and he's done it all without a consistent jump shot. Hopefully he develops that at some point.
At this point in the season, Simmons leads all rookies in scoring (18.1 ppg), rebounds (9.1 rpg), assists (8.0 apg), minutes (34.9 mpg) and double-double's (10). He ranks second among first year players in field goal percentage (.521) and steals (1.87 spg). Simmons and Lonzo Ball both have two triple-doubles, but it only took Ben nine games to notch his two while Ball got his second in his 17th game. Ball is shooting just 31.3 percent overall this season and 22.8 from beyond the arc.
Scouting the Jazz
Utah entered the season losing their best offensive player to Boston in free agency. With Hayward gone and Joe Johnson and Dante Exum sidelined, Rodney Hood has taken over the scoring load for the Jazz. Selected 23rd overall in the 2014 draft by the Jazz, Hood is averaging 17.7 points per game, shooting 42.1 percent from the floor and 41.5 percent from three-point range. He scored 31 points in Utah's rout of the Magic over the weekend, shooting 12-for-21 and 7-for-13 from deep.
Rookie Donovan Mitchell has put together a string of strong games as of late, averaging 19.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals over the last five. Overall this season, he's averaging 14.8 points on 38.7 percent shooting from the floor and 34 percent from beyond the arc.
As we mentioned prior, without Rudy Gobert, the Jazz are running with Derrick Favors as their starting center. He finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in Utah's win against the Magic.
Projected Starters
| Matchup Preview | November 20, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Utah Jazz (7-10, 1-6 Away) |
Philadelphia 76ers (8-7, 2-3 Home) |
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Game Information
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
