If you enjoy watching entertaining, highly competitive basketball games, this week has been tremendous. If you enjoy watching the Philadelphia 76ers win basketball games, this week has been terrible. The Sixers have dropped their last two games to the Clippers and Cavaliers by a combined four points, with both outcomes in doubt until the final seconds. In total, the Sixers have lost three straight and five of their last six games, now 1.5 games back of the Miami Heat for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
There may be great news on the horizon, however! Some considered this season as good as dead when Joel Embiid when out for meniscus surgery (sorry, procedure, or was it a check-up?). Now, he appears to be nearing a return to action, with the team posting a portentous ‘biting the apple’ gif, and Joel joining the team on this current road trip. Today will not be the day, though, as Embiid has already been ruled out, along with De’Anthony Melton and Robert Covington. I would wager Tuesday’s home game against the Thunder could be when we see the return. We’ve waited a lot longer than three days, but Joel might really be on his way back to resurrect the Sixers’ chances this season.
Things aren’t quite as rosy in Toronto, unless you consider them from a Tankathon perspective, where the Raptors currently have the sixth-best odds at landing the first overall pick. Masai Ujiri finally, albeit belatedly, pushed a couple rebuild buttons this season, sending away Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. The Raptors have also been struck extremely hard by the injury bug.
Scottie Barnes (broken finger), Jakob Poeltl (torn hand ligament), and Chris Boucher (MCL tear) are all out for the season. Trade acquisitions Immanuel Quickley (return to competition reconditioning) and Ochai Agbaji (bruised hip) are currently out as well, while RJ Barrett (return to competition reconditioning) is listed as questionable. After the All-Star break, the Raptors have gone 4-14, with a minus-10.6 net rating that is only better than Washington among all NBA teams. They really put in some premium fuel to get the tank running smoothly down the stretch of the season.
With all that in mind, this game is one the Sixers should be able to come way from victorious. They’ve mostly played good basketball the last couple weeks, but are just a little too shorthanded to get over the hump against good teams. Fortunately, this current version of the Raptors is far from a good team. If Philadelphia plays at the same caliber as the last two games, Toronto is going down. Oddsmakers agree, with the Sixers currently listed as 11-point favorites on DraftKings. Take care of business against a team with nothing left to play for (not even unders on their prop bets), and create some positivity heading into next week for what might be Joel’s return. If there’s going to be a turning point in the season, let it start tonight.
Game Details
Who: Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto Raptors
When: 6:00pm ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON, Canada
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers