By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Sixers (22-21) hopes of extending their winning streak to four straight were thwarted by the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night in the closing minutes of the game.
Sloppy turnovers affected the outcome of the game significantly, and the Sixers fell instead. But the team has a chance to pick up where they started, winners of eight of their last 11 games. The Sixers host the Chicago Bulls (18-29) on Wednesday night.
The last time the Bulls saw the Sixers was on December 19, they ended up being victorious 117-115. The Bulls were in the midst of an impressive sixth straight win. Since then, the Bulls have been riding the train of mediocrity, not really gaining any kind of momentum that will allow them to rise out of the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls are 15-9 since dropping 20 of their first 23 games to start the season.
Chicago is coming off a loss that featured one of the most historic NBA performances from Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins put together an incredible statline that included 44 points, 24 rebounds, and 10 assists. The Bulls fell in the game, 132-128 in double overtime.
It's easy to pinpoint faults on certain players or personnel when things don't go exactly as planned, which is what the Sixers had going for them on Monday night. But the fact of the matter is, the team has still been one of the hotter teams in the league in the month of January and have had moments where it seems like it's all going to be okay, and that blowing those leads from time to time is normal, it's just something additional that they need to work out as a team.
With McConnell out, Sixers will continue to look for other options to step in
On Tuesday afternoon, first reported by The Athletic's Derek Bodner, it was announced that Sixers guard TJ McConnell would miss the matchup with the Bulls for personal reasons, later to be revealed that McConnell's father-in-law passed away.
Brett Brown said the Sixers signed Larry Drew primarily because TJ McConnell will miss tomorrow night's game against the Bulls to attend his father in law's funeral.
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) January 23, 2018
It's highly likely that McConnell's minutes will go directly to Ben Simmons who will most likely play nearly the whole game. With Jerryd Bayless questionable to play, JJ Redick still on the mend, and Markelle Fultz out, there aren't a ton of other options to play point guard on the team.
In Hofmann's tweet, he mentioned the signing of Larry Drew II, who was inked to a 10-day deal on Tuesday. Drew could play a few minutes in McConnell's absence.
Along with Bayless, guard James Young is also questionable to play in Wednesday nights game due to gastroenteritis.
Jerryd Bayless and James Young are questionable for tomorrow's game vs. CHI
— Marshall Harris (@mharrisNBCS) January 23, 2018
Whoever fills in for McConnell at guard on Wednesday night, even if it's just for the one game, McConnell's absence surely will affect the quality of bench play we have seen over the last couple weeks. McConnell has averaged 12.6 points, five assists, and four rebounds in his last five games. Throw in a little over two steals per game, and you have an impact player that the team will surely miss on Wednesday.
TLC: The Rebirth?
Well who saw this one coming? For a guy who played terribly for most of the season and saw his minutes be phased out by head coach Brett Brown, Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot has fit in pretty nicely into his new spot-starter role in the absence of both Jerryd Bayless and JJ Redick.
TLC has started two games two games in a row for the Sixers and has been one of the surprising highlights of those two contests.
He scored 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting, hitting a career-high six of his eight triples against the Grizzlies on Monday.
Interestingly enough, his 3-point field goal percentage has skyrocketed in just two games for the Sixers, a stat that looks pretty good all things considered.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is now shooting 35% from three on the season. He was shooting 30.6% from three just two days ago.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) January 23, 2018
With injuries still being an issue for the Sixers going into the game with the Bulls, and McConnell inactive, expect a similar role from TLC.
It's vital for Covington to be patient and take his time for shot selection
We all saw it. The demise of Robert Covington, who tried to be the hero and put the Sixers ahead in the game with a 3-point shot that sailed away from the basket with eight second left in the game.
The Grizzlies rebounded, the Sixers fouled, and free throws sealed the deal for a heartbreaking loss for Philadelphia.
If Covington paid a little more attention to how much time was on the game clock, he very well could have gotten the rock to an open teammate for the two points and the tie.
But that didn't happen and the Sixers suffered because of it.
Now I personally like Robert Covington. I think he brings a lot to the Sixers that other players don't. I enjoy his hustle and determination on both offense and defense. But, like a lot of other players, he lacks in the department of sometimes taking the conservative approach.
He is aggressive and likes to take risks, but sometimes it just doesn't work out the way he wants it to.
Covington hasn't shot the ball well as of late, shooting just 32.3-percent from three in his last five games, which is significantly below his season average of 38.5-percent.
Covington tends to force a lot of shots, especially when they are contested. It was apparent in Monday's loss, going 4-0f-11 from behind the arc.
If he dishes the ball off to an open man, watches the clock diligently, he will have a much easier time playing the game at a much more efficient level, causing him to get back into that groove that makes him an often dominant player.
| Matchup Preview | January 24, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chicago Bulls (18-29, 7-17 Away) |
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