Sixers look to rebound against Utah Jazz: Can they stop Utah's big men?

Stop the bleeding.

That's what tonight should be about for the Sixers. After coming off a terrible performance in which the Sixers shot under 30% against the previously winless Detroit Pistons, the Sixers will look to get back on track tonight. It's also a chance to win at home for the first time since the season opener versus the Denver Nuggets.

The Utah Jazz enter this game at 4-5, winning 3 of their last 5 games. The Jazz have struggled on the road so far, only winning 1 away game out of the 6 they've played. That sole win came against the Toronto Raptors in an exciting triple overtime match.

One of the Jazz's biggest strengths is their big men. This includes starting PF Paul Millsap and starting C Al Jefferson, along with PF Derrick Favors and C Enes Kanter off the bench. If the Pistons game was any indication, the Sixers struggle against talented big men. The Sixers struggled against the Pistons bigs and were outrebounded 57-38.

It remains to be seen if the Sixers bigs can live up to the challenge. Kwame Brown will bring his size (and lulz), Spencer Hawes will bring his mullet and softness, and Lavoy Allen will bring his trademark "I don't give a poop" attitude. Kwame is finally healthy and when he's not killing people with his butt (sorry, Kyle Singler) he provides size and a VETERAN PRESENCE(TM). Lavoy had a rough start to the season but he looked like the best player on the court not named Jrue Holiday against the Pistons, scoring 12 points on 6-10 shooting and pulling down 6 rebounds. Hawes is the one I'm worried about. After starting the season in typical Wight Howard form, he's reverted closer to his HAHAHAhawes state. Hopefully Sixers coach Doug Collins will keep him on a short leash if he starts to get abused on defense.

Some other players to watch out for on the Jazz include their newly acquired scoring threat PG Mo Williams who's their leader in PPG (16.5) and APG (7.1). SG Randy Foye is currently their best 3 point threat right now shooting 22-50 (44%) from beyond the arc.

The weakness of the Jazz is their defense, which allows the 7th most PPG in the league. Hopefully that bears well for this struggling Sixers offense.

Quick hits:

• It would be nice to see Jrue Holiday continue to penetrate the defense and attack the basket. Can Jrue stop the excessive turnovers like he did against the Pistons?
  
• Nick Young is due for a hot performance.
• Evan Turner needs to step up tonight. If he's not scoring, he needs to at least be rebounding well like he's capable of doing.
• Derrick Favors figures to be the X-factor for the Jazz.
  
• Andrew Bynum's hair is the Sixers X-factor.
• Due to Utah's size, this is a game where we'll really miss Andrew Bynum.
• If you weren't fortunate enough to win tickets from Sixers CEO Adam Aron's twitter contest last night, you can find some tickets for great prices hhere on our TiqIQ tickets page.
• Bold statement: The Sixers will shoot higher than 30%.

Prediction:

The Jazz continue their struggles on the road and the Sixers offense gets back on track thanks to facing a weaker defense. Sixers win 92-85.

Misc:

For a Utah Jazz perspective, go check out our friends at SLC Dunk. I promise they won't bite.

Tip is at 7. GameThread will be up at 6:30. You can catch the game on ESPN or TCN-PHI. You can listen live on the radio on 97.5 The Fanatic.