San Antonio Spurs look to regain consistency as they visit Philadelphia 76ers
Watch San Antonio Spurs @ Philadelphia 76ers live on Sky Sports USA in the early hours of Thursday morning (1am)
Thursday 24 January 2019 04:05, UK
San Antonio Spurs look to regain consistency as they visit Joel Embiid and the high-flying Philadelphia 76ers, live on Sky Sports USA.
The Spurs (27-21) have lost four of their last seven contests following a five-game winning streak. Their latest stumble came at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers, who toppled them by a 103-95 score on Sunday night.
Live NBA: San Antonio @ Philadelphia
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 30 points and 14 rebounds, adding two assists and two blocks. Rudy Gay delivered 19 points, eight rebounds, one assist and one block. Marco Belinelli poured in 12 points to lead the bench.
The Spurs will be without Davis Bertans (personal) for Wednesday's game.
The 76ers (31-17) check in as a much hotter team than their opponents - they've won four of their past five games.
Their most recent success was particularly impressive, as they dismantled the Houston Rockets 121-93 score on Monday night.
Joel Embiid led the way with 32 points, adding 14 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists. Landry Shamet added 18 points. JJ Redick tallied 16 points, two rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block.
The 76ers have two highly notable names on Wednesday's injury report - Ben Simmons is questionable with an illness, while Jimmy Butler shares the same designation due to a wrist injury.
Markelle Fultz (shoulder), Zhaire Smith (foot) and Justin Patton (foot) are all out.
Wednesday's game marks the second and final meeting between the teams this season. The Spurs hold a 1-0 series lead, having notched a 123-96 win December 17.
Key Battle: LaMarcus Aldridge vs Joel Embiid
There's nothing Embiid enjoys more than asserting his two-way dominance against opposing big men. Aldridge, not to mention Spurs' reserve big men Pau Gasol and Jakob Poetl, could be in for a long night against 'The Process'.
Embiid has strengthened his MVP candidacy recently with three 30+ point outings in his last four games. He leads the league in double-doubles and 30-point/10-rebound games.
Embiid will be tested by the veteran Aldridge's mid-range game. The Spurs forward is in good form too, having scored a career-high 56 points in a memorable overtime win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Last time out
Numbers game
800 - That's the total number of two-point field goals attempted by Spurs guard DeRozan this season, a mark that leads the league.
But don't be fooled into thinking the Spurs are wholly a mid-range jump shooting team. While that is true of San Antonio's starting five, their bench players are adept at bombing away from three-point range. So much so, that the Spurs lead the league in three-point percentage (40.4 per cent).
One to watch (Spurs): Derrick White
White has made the most of the opportunities afforded to him by the season-long absence of Spurs starting guard Dejounte Murray. He stuffed the stat sheet last time out with nine points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block
Second-year-pro White has also been impressive on defense. For one so relatively inexperienced at NBA level - having played only 139 minutes as a rookie - he is already quite a presence defensively, a large and physical point guard in the Marcus Smart/Kris Dunn role who also has a knack for defending with his hands.
One to watch (76ers): JJ Redick
The evergreen Redick is in the 13th year of his NBA tenure and is averaging more points per game this season (18.4) than at any time in his career.
The veteran sharpshooting guard supplies game-winning firepower from beyond the arc, although the volume of threes the Sixers ask him to take (7.8 per game) has impacted on his accuracy from three-point land.
Redick once led the league in three-point shooting percentage (47.5 per cent in 2015-16) but his accuracy in this campaign is well short of that mark (37.9 per cent).
