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It looks like the Philadelphia 76ers will be playing with a full deck in tomorrow’s road matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Head coach Brett Brown was without the services of Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, and Wilson Chandler for Saturday night’s loss to the Denver Nuggets. They’re all expected to be available tomorrow.
Embiid battled a sore back for several contests before finally taking a rest game to recover. Playing tomorrow will mean he got nearly a full week off as the team’s two time All-Star last played on Wednesday when Philadelphia hosted and defeated the San Antonio Spurs.
Butler has been out of the lineup with a sprained wrist for three games. He visited a specialist recently:
Update on Jimmy Butler: team official confirmed that there was positive feedback from the specialist about Butler’s right wrist, consistent w/ the team’s initial assessment of a mild sprain. While Butler will be out tonight in DEN, he’ll likely to be available Tues. night in LA.
— Devon Givens (@devong975) January 26, 2019
Butler’s return will provide a big lift to the team’s starting unit. His job likely won’t be quite as taxing as he might have thought. It appears LeBron James will miss his 17th consecutive game with a groin injury. There were rumors James was considering a return on Tuesday.
LeBron James will be listed as out for Tuesday's game against Philadelphia. Something extraordinary could change that, but he is expected to miss his 17th straight game.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) January 28, 2019
As for Chandler, he missed the last contest with a hamstring injury. It does not sound serious though as he is already set to make his return to the lineup.
Wilson Chandler (who sat out tonight with left hamstring tightness) said he expects to play on Tuesday vs. Lakers.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 27, 2019
The game will not be light on storylines. A report today from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said that New Orleans Pelicans’ star Anthony Davis would like to be traded. The Lakers are one of the team’s who are reportedly interested in the former Kentucky Wildcat and will aggressively pursue him. They are also at the center of possible tampering issues:
The Pelicans said in a statement that they will not let others pressure them into trading Anthony Davis. And they asked the league to enforce tampering rules in an obvious warning to the Lakers, who have been fined twice for a total of $550,000 for... https://t.co/okSi3d6JFQ
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) January 28, 2019
The Sixers are reportedly not interested in pursuing Davis in any deal that would involve Ben Simmons, who shares an agent with Davis in Rich Paul.
This is likely not a game Joel Embiid wanted to miss. He played one of his best career games at Staples Center last season.
76ers defeat Lakers 115-109
— TLSM (@TLSportsMedia) November 16, 2017
(PHI: Embiid 46 Pts 15 Reb 7 Ast, Simmons 18 Pts 9 Reb 10 Ast)
(LAL: Ingram 26 Pts 11 Reb, Kuzma 24 Pts) pic.twitter.com/FJFiTnL7v1
Tip off is set for 10:30 PM eastern.