The Philadelphia 76ers hit the road after another home win on Thanksgiving Eve to improve to 8-0 at home where they have played much better than they have on the road. The team is 4-6 on the road and their defense is not as strong on the road. They give up 109.7 points on the road compared to 97.0 at home.
The opponent on Friday is the hapless New York Knicks who have a ton of issues of their own. They have, once again, not lived up to any of the expectations that they set for themselves, but RJ Barrett has been a solid performer for them in the early going.
It’s now time for the game preview with the complete guideline for the entire game:
How to watch Sixers vs. Knicks
- Date: Friday, November 29
- Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
- Location: Madison Square Garden Manhattan, NY
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia+
Injury Report
- Sixers: OUT: Al Horford(rest), Kyle O’Quinn(left calf strain) DOUBTFUL: Josh Richardson(right hamstring) QUESTIONABLE: Shake Milton(upper respiratory)
- Knicks: OUT: Reggie Bullock(neck), Elfrid Payton(right hamstring)
Storylines
Embiid with nothing to prove
Sixers superstar Joel Embiid had 33 points and 16 rebounds in the win on Wednesday after a scoreless effort against the Toronto Raptors on Monday. It was a big bounce-back effort for the Sixers big man and it was almost a “prove it” game following the unacceptable performance. However, if you ask him, he has nothing to prove to anybody.
I didn’t have to prove anything. I’ve matured a lot since I’ve got in the league. I understand the end goal is winning a championship so we’ve got to take it day-by-day. People are going to talk and I’ve learned not to pay attention to it. It doesn’t get to me. I just do it for myself, I just do it for the organization, and I just do it for my family. I don’t have anything to prove to anybody, I literally do not care about whatever was said after that performance so, like I said I don’t have anything to prove to anybody
Brown praises Thybulle
The Sixers received a big game from Embiid, but if it wasn’ for rookie Matisse Thybulle, who knows what would have happened? Thybulle entered late in the third quarter and he did a helluva job wreaking havoc on either end and he scored 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting and 3-for-3 from deep.
Brown had praise for his rookie’s development as he stated:
I think when he can get his feet set, and he has proper footwork we talk about ‘are you a front stepper or a side stepper?’ and he looked like his shoulders were over his waist, his wasit was over his feet, he had proper footwork into his shot, and it looked good. It really looked balanced. Then he was getting deflections and steals and, I’m sure he felt good about his defense that you’d think carry into the confidence in his shot, but I thought fundamentally, just judging it, he looked proper. He looked fundamentally correct and balanced and he made them. We needed every one of them.
Prediction
The Knicks are an Eastern Conference worst 4-14 and they come in scoring only 101.8 points per game, which is dead last in the league. Considering the Sixers are fourth in the league in defensive rating, this sets up as a way for them to get back on track on the road. The defense will hold the Knicks, who’s leading scorer is Marcus Morris at 18.6 points, and the offense should be able to do enough to win this game.
Pick: Sixers by double-digits
Sixers vs. Knicks season series
Game 1 November 20: 109-104 Sixers
Game 2 November 29:
Game 3 January 18:
Game 4 February 27:
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