The Philadelphia 76ers are playing a basketball game. That’s right, for the first time since March 11, the Sixers will hit the hardwood to play a competitive basketball game as they get set to take on the Memphis Grizzlies from Disney World in Orlando.
The Sixers will play the first of three scrimmage games on Friday when they take on the Grizzlies from the bubble as they get for the official resumption on August 1. Memphis will offer up the challenge of likely Rookie of the Year Ja Morant and his running mate in Jaren Jackson Jr. While the game will be meaningless, it will be nice for everybody to get a run in.
With that said, it’s time for the game preview with viewing information and storylines for this one–that felt great to write.
How to watch Sixers vs. Grizzlies
- Date: Friday, July 24
- Time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- Location: The Arena (WWOS) Orlando, FL
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Storylines
Minutes for Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid
Considering that this is only a scrimmage game, one can assume that the Sixers All-Star duo of Simmons and Embiid won’t play too much. That will most certainly be the case as coach Brett Brown would much rather have his guys ready for the regular season and the playoffs.
“I’m not going to play our heavyweights any extended minutes in our exhibition games,” Brown explained. “The first exhibition game is only four 10 minute periods, the other two will be normal games. I expect you’ll see somewhere around the 20-minute mark for my heavyweights. That may change in the last game before we go play in a regular-season game. Once the dust settles and the regular-season begins, I’m looking at 34 is the easy number for me to talk about.”
Simmons at the 4
The Sixers are experimenting a bit as they are moving Simmons off the ball to the power forward position and have him running things from that position. That means he will be closer to the basket next to Embiid and the big fella is excited about it.
“We’re going to be great and we’re going to do what we need to do to accomplish the goal that we set for ourselves and I’m excited,” Embiid finished with. “I don’t see any difference. I think we’re still going to dominate together.”
Prediction
This is not so much a results driven prediction, but a prediction of what to expect. Fans should not expect to see a lot of Simmons or Embiid and they should be looking to see how the team looks in terms of crispness after not playing basketball for four months. The game will be run on 10 minute quarters since it’s the first scrimmage game before things get back to the regularity of 12 minute quarters. The Sixers should use this game to get back on the swing of things.
Pick: A whole lotta fun
Sixers vs. Grizzlies season series
February 7: 119-107 Sixers
[lawrence-related id=35308,35294,35287]