The Philadelphia 76ers may continue to struggle on the road, but that won’t be an issue on Friday night as they return home. The Sixers are an NBA-best 22-2 at home and after a nightmare winless road trip, they’ll be looking to get back on track.
Friday’s opponent is the upstart Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies have surprised some people this season as they have played solid enough basketball to be the 8 seed in the tough Western Conference. They have had a solid season led by rookie Ja Morant and second-year man Jaren Jackson Jr. and it won’t be an easy matchup for Philadelphia.
With that said, it’s now time for the game guide to this one:
How to watch Sixers vs. Grizzlies
- Date: Friday, February 7
- Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Injury Report
- Sixers: NOT YET SUBMITTED
- Grizzlies: OUT: Grayson Allen (left hip injury) QUESTIONABLE: Jonas Valanciunas (left ankle soreness)
Storylines
Sixers say they listen to Brown
The Sixers have been dealing with a lot of criticism recently and one of those criticisms was that they don’t listen to coach Brett Brown anymore. At practice on Wednesday, the team wanted to make sure everybody knew that that wasn’t the case that Brown still has their attention.
“We haven’t been winning, our offense has not been good,” Joel Embiid explained. “I always say, coaches are not out there to make shots for us. They don’t make plays, they can do a better job of setting everything up, but at the end of the day, we make the plays.”
Sixers address lack of physicality
The Sixers have one of the biggest starting lineups in the league led by Embiid, Al Horford, and Ben Simmons. Yet, they were regularly pushed around on the road trip and they were not able to assert themselves and be the aggressors. They wanted to address that and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It’s all connected,” said coach Brett Brown. “I always go to the defense. Like why aren’t we playing better defense? You look at the road record vs. the home record. Why is that? You really analyze why I think it is and it’s kind of all connected, there’s a physical and mental toughness, there’s a defensive mentality, there is a physicality for sure and it’s all intertwined. Those are the ingredients, in my opinion, that I’ve seen that win regularly on the road.”
Prediction
They’re at home. That makes a huge difference for this team. They did, after all, beat the big and bad Los Angeles Lakers while being down two starters at home. It just makes that much of a difference for this team and that’s why they should win this one. Morant and Jackson Jr. along with Dillon Brooks will provide tough challenges, but at the Wells Fargo Center, those challenges can be rendered useless.
Pick: Sixers in a close one
Sixers vs. Grizzlies season series
Game 1 February 7:
Game 2 April 13: