By John Wetzel, Sports Talk Philly staff
The Philadelphia 76ers (0-1) took the 88-89 loss to the Boston Celtics in their Summer League opener on Monday. A tough loss in the end, but the Summer Sixers showed plenty of bright spots in the game. A couple of which being recently drafted players Markelle Fultz and Jonah Bolden.
The Sixers are now set to hit the floor again tonight at 9 p.m. ET against the Utah Jazz.
They'll also be getting some help as Furkan Korkmaz is set to make his Sixers debut tonight.
Who to Watch For:
This matchup should be loaded with NBA talent highlighted by a shooting guard matchup of Sixers' Markelle Fultz and Jazz' Donovan Mitchell. Fultz, as we all know was the No. 1 overall pick in this years draft. He played mostly point guard in college, but looks to fit into the Sixers' lineup as a two-guard on offense. Fultz played well in the opener on Monday putting up 17 points and three blocks in 22 minutes. He will likely be guarded by Mitchell most of the time which will be fun to watch.
Mitchell was the No. 13 pick in this years draft and put on a show in Utah's game on Monday. Mitchell scored 23 points in 25 minutes and went 10-17 from the field, 3-6 from three point range. He also had five assists and three steals in the Jazz' 87-74 win over the Spurs.
Mitchell was a highlight machine in his time in college. Look for him to do a little bit of everything in tonight's matchup. His athleticism will be tough for the Sixers' guards to handle. Fultz mostly guarded the oppositions primary ball handler on Monday as practice for the upcoming season. So we probably won't see Fultz guarding Mitchell very much, instead he'll probably see a lot of Dante Exum.
Exum had a strong showing for the Jazz on Monday scoring 18 points in 27 minutes on 7-12 shooting. He's been a bit of a disappointment for the Jazz since being drafted fifth overall in 2014. However, still just 21, Exum looks to start this season fresh.
Second year player Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot will likely see a good chunk of minutes again tonight. He struggled with his shooting stroke a bit in Monday's game going 1-9 from beyond the arc, but improving his form has been a big point of emphasis for him this offseason. Brett Brown has also stressed the Sixers' game plan will be to run the floor, shoot threes, and play defense this season. I expect him to continue to shoot from the outside tonight and throughout Summer League.
Second round pick Jonah Bolden also had a strong showing in Monday's game. His physical play earned him nine points in 22 minutes and four big blocks on the other end. Bolden is a bit of a mystery man to most Sixers fans, but he along with his physical style of play should become more well known throughout Philadelphia. Look for him to have his way against the smaller Jazz power forward, Joel Bolomboy.
Finally, we have Furkan Korkmaz. It was announced earlier today that Korkmaz would make his Summer League debut tonight. It was expected that he'd play in some Summer League games, but I found it a bit surprising he will make his debut just one day after signing his new contract with the Sixers'. This is exciting news nonetheless.
Korkmaz has been one of the most intriguing draft and stash prospects in basketball over the past year. He's known mostly for his shooting ability, but the 19 year old has tools galore. This looks to be a developmental year for him as he needs to improve his strength above all else, but Summer league will be a good gauge of where he is, development wise.
| Matchup Preview | July 5, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
 |
@ |  |
||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia 76ers ( 0-1, 0-0 Away) |
Utah Jazz ( 1-0, 1-0 Home) |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
When: 9:00 p.m. ET
Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center, University of Utah
Watch: TCN, NBA TV
