Philadelphia has 10 games left and every one matters greatly for lottery combinations.
Losers of five straight games, the Philadelphia 76ers have been perfecting their tanking craft as we come down this home stretch of the season. They’ve created separation with the Toronto Raptors, who are a couple games ahead, but are locked into a battle with the Brooklyn Nets, currently tied at 23-49 for the fifth-worst record in the league. It’s March Sadness on the NBA court while we watch March Madness and dream of the player the Sixers could potentially take if they’re able to retain a top-six pick. Tonight, the Sixers will be facing their ultimate test, a Wizards club that has lost five straight of their own and sit with the worst record in the NBA at 15-56.
Washington actually had a decent stretch of play recently following the trade deadline. They won six of their first 10 games with Khris Middleton in the lineup. Then, the Wizards clearly had to shut that down with the Jazz breathing down their neck for the most lottery combinations. Middleton didn’t play more than 23 minutes in any of his last three appearances (all Washington losses), and is out tonight with ankle injury management. Joining Middleton on the sideline will be Saddiq Bey (ACL), Malcolm Brogdon (ankle), Bilal Coulibaly (hip), Kyshawn George (ankle), Corey Kispert (thumb), and Marcus Smart (finger); Anthony Gill is questionable with hip soreness. The Wizards aren’t messing around one bit in this tanking game.
The Sixers’ injury report will rival Washington’s group with nine players sidelined. They are (deep breath) Andre Drummond, Joel Embiid, Paul George, Eric Gordon, Kyle Lowry, Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Lonnie Walker IV. Among guys actually taking the floor, tonight will be a revenge game for Jared Butler, playing against his old Wizards club for the first time since coming over in early February. He has now been playing over 30 minutes a lot of nights as part of the starting lineup.
Last game against New Orleans, the only guys for the Sixers who weren’t two-way players or 10-day contracts at some point this season were Guerschon Yabusele, Ricky Council IV, and Adem Bona. We’re so far removed from the Sixers team that we watched for the majority of the season. It’s basically like watching Summer League, which is refreshing in that at least we don’t have the association of failed expectations with the players we’re watching. A lot of these guys are playing hard to show teams they’re worthy of an NBA contract next season.
There’s no men’s or women’s NCAA tournament action tonight, so the next closest thing has to be Sixers-Wizards. Instead of win or go home, we have win and maybe lose valuable draft capital. So settle down for two fan bases wincing whenever their own team does well. NBA basketball in March is certainly a strange experience.
Game Details
When: Monday, March 24, 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: The Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers