The Philadelphia 76ers return home on Monday looking to put a nightmarish 0-4 road trip behind them. They will return home to the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center where they are 16-2 and they defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day in their last home contest. That type of play should have the team feeling optimistic that they can breakthrough.
Their opponent on Monday is the Oklahoma City Thunder who own a win over the Sixers earlier this season at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. They’re led by the young and energetic Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and veterans Chris Paul and Steven Adams. Oklahoma City has outperformed expectations as they are in the thick of the Western Conference playoffs as preseason prognosticators did not expect this type of play from them after trading away Russell Westbrook and Paul George in the offseason.
With that said, it’s time for the guide to this one:
How to watch Sixers vs. Thunder
- Date: Monday, January 6
- Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA
- TV: NBATV, NBC Sports Philadelphia
Injury Report
- Sixers: OUT: Matisse Thybulle(right knee sprain)
- Thunder: OUT: Nerlens Noel(left ankle sprain), Andre Roberson(left knee injury recovery)
Storylines
Importance of Richardson
The Sixers are beginning to tweak the offense a little bit. Instead of having point guard Ben Simmons initiate the pick-and-roll, they plan on using their gifted 6-foot-10 athlete as the roller and finisher. That would put the ball more in the hands of Josh Richardson who now becomes a “necessity” in the words of coach Brett Brown.
“You shouldn’t use the word luxury, it’s a necessity,” said Brown succinctly. “You’re not going to do it otherwise. So we can say ‘Oh we love Ben as a screen-setter’, well you better find someone that can deliver the person to the screen.”
Horford shooting threes
In terms of the team’s offense, the Sixers are downright clunky. They struggled during the road trip as they averaged just 104 points per 100 possessions during the trip and it showed all of their warts on that end. In order to find success, they need more spacing for Joel Embiid to operate and that’s where Al Horford comes in.
“I just want him to keep shooting,” said coach Brett Brown. “I want him to shoot threes. I want him to space and co-exist with Joel in an environment where he feels comfortable and we find him firing threes. I couldn’t be any more clearer with that role.”
Prediction
Everything about this game screams a win for the Sixers. They’re returning home after a nightmare trip, they play extremely well at the Wells Fargo Center, and they had a solid practice on Sunday as they continued to work things out on their end on offense. The Thunder are not a pushover opponent as Gilgeous-Alexander has taken a step forward offensively and Paul has been a good role model there. Philadelphia should be able to put an end to this awful skid.
Pick: Confidently taking the Sixers
Sixers vs. Thunder season series
Game 1 November 15: 127-119 Thunder
Game 2 January 6:
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