Sixers vs. Trail Blazers: Game Preview and Info

The Sixers will face off against Nik Stauskas and the Portland Trail Blazers tonight in Rip City, the first of two meetings scheduled between the teams. Going into tonight’s game, the Sixers sit in 4th place in the Eastern Conference with a 23-13 record.

The Sixers are coming off two full days rest, after a convincing victory over Rookie of the Year runner-up Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz on Thursday. All of the Sixers’ “Big 3” made significant contributions in Thursday’s win, including a Ben Simmons triple-double, 23 points and 15 rebounds from Joel Embiid, and 19 points from Jimmy Butler.

The Portland Trail Blazers have a record of 20-16. They are on their second night of a back-to-back, after losing to the Golden State Warriors by a score of 115-105. Tonight’s tip-off is less than 24 hours after the tip-off of last night’s game, so Portland may be battling fatigue tonight.

Fatigued or not, the Blazers still have the dynamic duo of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard. McCollum’s 32.8% 3-point shooting percentage is the lowest of his career (and lower than the league average of 35.2%) on 5.7 attempts per game. Despite his struggles from beyond the arc, he is still averaging over 20 points a game. Lillard is shooting 40% from 3, and contributing over 27 points per game. The third star for the Blazers is Jusuf Nurkic, the 7-footer from Bosnia. Nurkic is pulling down over 10 rebounds a game while scoring 14 points.

The Sixers may have to go against Portland without their biggest star. As of this writing, Embiid is questionable for tonight’s game with left knee soreness. If Embiid can’t go tonight, look for Brett Brown to continue using a 10-man rotation (now 9), including significant minutes for Jonah Bolden and Furkan Korkmaz.

Game Info

Who: Philadelphia 76ers @ Portland Trail Blazers

When: 9:00pm EST

Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR

Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia

Listen: 97.5 The Fanatic

Follow: @Liberty_Ballers

Injuries

Sixers: Joel Embiid (questionable, knee), Markelle Fultz (out, shoulder), Zhaire Smith (out, foot), Justin Patton (out, foot)

Trail Blazers: None