The 76ers have been struggling of late, having lost 13 of their last 16 games. They have been outscored, on average, by a dozen points a night in those 16 games. There is a bright spot in there, however, looking closer at the numbers.
In those 16 games, against Atlantic Division opponents they are not struggling nearly as much. In fact, two of their three wins in that stretch have come against division rivals and they are only being outscored, on average, by four points and are 2-3 in the month of January against them.
To put those numbers into words, the Sixers have a fighting chance against division opponents. Especially those not named Toronto, the division leader.
Their most recent victory came against the Boston Celtics, whom will actually come to the Wells Fargo Center for their 7 p.m. game tonight. One week ago today, Philadelphia won at the TD Garden 95-94 on an Evan Turner buzzer-beating floater in the lane. The Celtics had numerous chances in the final minutes to take the lead for good but came up short. The Sixers have not won since, having lost to Atlanta, Detroit and Brooklyn in their three most recent games.
While the victory was a nice bright spot in a dark month for Philadelphia, there is reason for pessimism that they can have a repeat performance (sorry fans!). For one, Celtics superstar Rajon Rondo ended up not dressing for the game last week, as Head Coach Brad Stevens opted to rest him on the back end of consecutive days of games. Phil Pressey started in his place, and it should be expected the Rondo can exceed Pressey’s performance last week of two points, two assists and one rebound.
Speaking of rest, the Celtics have gotten plenty of that since the last matchup, too. Compared to Philadlephia’s three games in the previous five days, the Celtics have played once since last week’s game. They defeated the lowly Orlando Magic Sunday afternoon at home, so Rondo and the team should be much fresher than Philadelphia.
As far as keys to the game, there seem to be two things the Sixers have to do, or not do, to put the odds in their favor. The first is controlling Jared Sullinger. Having a nice sophomore season, Sullinger is a nice budding player. But he’s no star and you cannot allow him to put up superstar numbers like he did last week, posting 24 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Spencer Hawes would be the primary guy called on to limit him, and for the Sixers to have a chance he cannot be that explosive inside. Brett Brown has openly called out the team for their horrendous defensive efforts, and this stat line from the box score would seem to be exactly what he is talking about. Match up, rotate, guard and defend however you need to do it each possession to limit the second-year player. He’s no Dwight Howard.
The second key would be to stop turning the ball over so much. Frankly, the rate the Sixers turn the ball over is atrocious. They have two more than any other team on average per game and are on pace to finish with the highest turnover rate since 1996-97. They did commit a season-low ten last week against Boston, but followed up the progress with a regression of 21 per game in the last three games, including a ridiculous 26 against the Nets.
Injury report: For the Sixers, the usual ACL recoveries are out, Nerlens Noel and Jason Richardson. Brandon Davies is still recovering from a finger injury and is also out, as is Arnette Moultrie, who was assigned to the 87ers. Boston’s Gerald Wallace is questionable due to personal reasons.
Starting lineups:
Boston:
PG- Rajon Rondo
SG- Avery Bradley
SF- Jeff Green
PF- Brandon Bass
C- Jared Sullinger
Philadelphia:
PG- Michael Carter-Williams
SG- Evan Turner
SF- James Anderson
PF- Thaddeus Young
C- Spencer Hawes
Prediction: Brett Brown still is not satisfied with the defense and Boston takes this one 108-100. The Sixers have their struggles guarding both guards and the front court.
