Sixers-Trail Blazers Game Thread

Game Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Watch/Listen: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic

Location: Wells Fargo Center

Projected Starters:

Philadelphia

PG: Ben Simmons

SG: JJ Redick

SF: Robert Covington

PF: Dario Saric

C: Joel Embiid

Portland

PG: Damian Lillard

SG: CJ McCollum

SF: Maurice Harkless

PF: Noah Vonleh

C: Jusuf Nurkic

Injury Report

Philadelphia: Markelle Fultz, Justin Anderson and Nik Stauskas are reportedly out.

Portland: Al-Farouq Aminu is reportedly out.

10 Important Numbers (via stats.nba.com)

• Amir Johnson is tied for the ninth-most screen assists per 36 minutes with 5.4. He hasn't showcased the same floor spacing that he provided in Boston, but he's contributing via other outlets offensively.
• Ben Simmons has contested the third-most threes per game (4.1) in the league. Among the other developments so far, Simmons' defense has popped in his 16 games.
• Damian Lillard's three-point efficiency jumps to 43.3 percent during "clutch time".
• Robert Covington is shooting 50 percent on threes in which his defender is playing tight (two-to-four feet) on him. He shot 30 percent last season on these looks.
• The Trail Blazers have let their opponents reach the 100-point mark just once over the last seven games. However, only Oklahoma City and Denver are credible offenses. The Kings (x2), Grizzlies (x2) and Brooklyn don't scream offensive juggernaut.
• Joel Embiid leagues the league in post up shot attempts (6.2) but from defenders helping and scheming, Embiid's "only" shooting 55.2 percent in those situations.
• Amir Johnson and the Sixers' bigs have to box out and locate when Embiid's not on the floor. Ed Davis is averaging 2.8 offensive rebounds per game and Noah Vonleh had five against Memphis Monday.
• Portland is only behind Golden State for using cuts to create shot attempts at a 8.7 percent frequency.
• Ben Simmons has covered the fourth-most distance in the league at 14,018.6 feet. McCollum's covered the most at 14,293.3 feet.
• Robert Covington now leads the Sixers with a 22.7 net rating, proving how indispensable he is on this team. He struggled against the Jazz Monday offensively but had a major impact on the defensive end, per usual.