The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the better teams in the league with a 25-14 record. However, most of that success is due to an excellent 18-2 record at the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center compared to just being 7-13 on the road. They do possess some impressive road wins, but they also possess a lot of confusing road losses so they have to figure it out.
Their opponent on Saturday is the Dallas Mavericks who already own a win over the Sixers earlier this season and that was without young star Luka Doncic. The Mavs will have Doncic in this matchup and that spells issues for the Sixers. Another big aspect with Dallas is the amount of time they use a zone defense that put the Sixers in all sorts of offensive issues.
With that said, it’s time for the preview in this one:
How to watch Sixers vs. Mavericks
- Date: Saturday, January 11
- Time: 8:30 p.m. EST
- Location: American Airlines Center Dallas, TX
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Injury Report
- Sixers: OUT: Joel Embiid(left hand torn radial collateral ligament)
- Mavericks: NOT YET SUBMITTED
Storylines
Simmons at center
With Joel Embiid out for a couple of weeks, the Sixers are going to play with a few different lineup options. One of them is throwing their point guard at the center spot, but Ben Simmons is not the ordinary point guard. The fact that he is 6-foot-10 and is one of the more athletic players in the league allows him to be that versatile player and coach Brett Brown likes what he sees.
“I’ve always been curious of what that could look like and we’ve seen over the past three weeks I’ve put him in a lot of screening action, like as the screener and you can see he’s a dynamic roller,” Brown explained. “He can get lobs, he can catch pocket passers, he can find people in corners and so in that world, if you put shooters around him and you find somebody who can run the pick-and-roll, then let’s call him the 5 and it’s true and in that environment, he was.”
Richardson making life easy
The big aspect that makes Simmons moving to center even possible is the fact that Josh Richardson has done a terrific job handling the ball and being sort of another point guard on the floor. Richardson has been able to make good decisions with the basketball whether it’s looking to score or he’s looking to set up his teammates and that is allowing Simmons to be a roller and score at the basket.
“He’s getting better and better,” Simmons added. “Just the more I play with him, his reads and throwing the ball up for lobs or whatever it is, he’s reading the game a lot better from the start of the season until now.”
Prediction
The Sixers seem to have found their groove with two nice wins at home, but this team is not as powerful on the road. Their recent four-game losing skid all came on the road and Saturday’s opponent suffocated them in the previous matchup. Having Al Horford back at a more comfortable position should help solve those issues, but it will also take them knocking down their shots which is something they struggle with on the road.
Pick: Want to say the Sixers, but their constant road issues have one thinking Mavericks
Sixers vs. Mavericks season series
Game 1 December 20: 117-98 Mavericks
Game 2 January 11:
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