Sixers-Knicks Preview: Super Bad

As the New York Knicks travel to take on the Philadelphia 76ers fresh off their first victory fresh off their first victory in the past seventeen games, both franchises find themselves in a similar situation. The Knicks are 6-36, the worst record in not only the Atlantic Division, but the NBA too. Philadelphia sits at a marginally better 8-33, with a 2.5 game cushion over the cellar of the division.

New York was able to outlast the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday with a 99-92 victory at Madison Square Garden. Carmelo Anthony, who for some reason hasn't been totally shut down for the rest of the year, led all scorers with 24 points on 7-15 shooting. The Knicks also got a nice contribution from St. Joseph's University product Langston Galloway, who added 21 points and 5 rebounds. Galloway has been quite the helpful addition to the team since signing his first ten-day contract on January 7th. He's averaging 12 points per game and shooting 42% from the floor in just over 25 minutes a night. Just like what any good Kindergarten teacher used to tell their students, Galloway is now being dubbed as "special" by the local media. It's Linsanity all over again; I'll let you come up with the cool name.

Philadelphia is coming off a thirty-five point beat down at the hands of the Washington Wizards on Monday, their second consecutive loss. Nerlens Noel led the charge with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and a couple of stinging postgame comments possibly directed towards Michael Carter-Williams. Jerami Grant continues to earn himself more playing time, as he finished with 12 points against Washington, including 3-6 from beyond the arc. Despite my hatred of the pick at the time, I'm slowly starting to come around on Grant. He's not nearly strong enough to bang in the paint yet, but his outside shooting stroke looks workable. Grant is currently averaging 4.8 points per game, and is shooting 35.1% from both the field and beyond the arc.

The Sixers were without the services of backup point guard Tony Wroten against the Wizards, and likely will be for the foreseeable future. Wroten flew out to California to visit a specialist about his right knee sprain suffered in the team's loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It's the same knee where he tore his ACL playing high school football in 2009. Wroten being out for an extended period couped the knowledge that JaKarr Sampson running the point just isn't efficient, Philadelphia inked Larry Drew II to a ten-day contract last week. He scored 2 points and added 6 assists in Monday's loss.

Philadelphia and New York tip off at 7:00 P.M.