The playoff-bound Philadelphia 76ers are in the final leg of a four-game road trip as they come into San Francisco for a matchup with the Golden State Warriors. In round two between Philadelphia and Golden State, things could not be more different for both clubs.
After moving a bevy of players at the NBA trade deadline, The Warriors will welcome back Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks as members of the 76ers. In their second matchup, Golden State will roll out essentially a new rotation with Stephen Curry back from injury. For Philadelphia, both Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid will be out due to injury against the Warriors in Chase Center.
To help break down the Golden State’s matchup with the 76ers, Warriors Wire teamed up with USA Today’s sister site Sixers Wire.
Sixers Wire Editor Ky Carlin answered three questions for Warriors Wire leading up to Philadelphia’s Saturday night tilt with Golden State.
1) What’s changed since they last met?
Well, for one, a few Warriors are now Sixers. Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III are donning red, white, and blue jerseys after being acquired by the 76ers at the deadline. Another thing is, the Sixers are banged up by a lot of injuries. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, as well as possibly Josh Richardson, are not available for this matchup.
Due to that change, the offense is a lot faster. Things are sped up and the team relies more on Tobias Harris and Al Horford to create for themselves.
2) What will it take for each team to win?
For Philadelphia, it’s simple: continue to knock down open threes and hope Horford and Harris can be effective. Also, Shake Milton has to hold his own against Stephen Curry. He has done a great job so far on this trip of holding the fort in place of Simmons. Philadelphia will also need more big performances from Burks, Furkan Korkmaz, and Robinson III to win this one.
For Golden State, it’s an uphill battle. Not having Embiid to deal with will help them a bit. However, if Horford can carry over his performance from their win over the Sacramento Kings, then that changes things. Curry will have to have a classic superhuman performance.
3) Is there anything else we should know about the matchup, or the Warriors?
Philadelphia is shooting 45% from deep on their road trip so far. That is a huge number when considering they could not hit the side of a barn from deep on the road prior to this trip. The Sixers have been able to play with more space, there’s more ball movement, and shots have come easy for them without the stars. Keeping an eye on their shooting will be a true storyline for this one.