Yes, the Philadelphia 76ers play again tonight. Sorry.
The Sixers flew home after their being outplayed by the Cleveland Cavaliers last night just to get right back on the floor to host the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday. Philadelphia were without their top four scorers on Monday, with Tyrese Maxey (finger), Joel Embiid (oblique), VJ Edgecombe (back) and Paul George (suspension) all sidelined, against a Cavaliers team with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and more. It went about as expected,
honestly.
Philadelphia sits in eighth in the Eastern Conference as of Monday morning, just one game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks in ninth and two and a half games ahead of the Charlotte Hornets in 10th.
And, unfortunately, things are going to stay difficult and uncomfortable for the Sixers for now. They will definitely remain without Maxey, Embiid and PG (all of whom have already been ruled out) and might even be without their rookie again. Edgecombe has missed the last three games with a back contusion.
We saw how it went last night without these four. Of course, the Grizzlies are not the Cavaliers… but still.
This being a back-to-back means we won’t know Edgecombe’s or others’ official injury statuses until this afternoon, but we will keep you posted as that information becomes available.
The Grizzlies are no strangers to being shorthanded themselves, though. In terms of long-term injuries, they have been without Ja Morant (out since late January with an elbow injury), Zach Edey (out for the season with an ankle injury) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (out for the season with a finger injury). Memphis also traded away Jaren Jackson Jr. at the trade deadline (after he contributed 19.2 points per game across 45 games this season for them) and they have 11 (of 15) roster spots taken by players with less than three years of experience in the NBA.
So they’re shorthanded and inexperienced, too. Not only that, but they are coming in to this contest on the second leg of a back-to-back as well (so at least the teams are even in their disadvantages!) after losing their fourth game in a row 126-115 to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
The Grizzlies had a number of players out for that contest that didn’t miss other games recently, so we’ll have to see who was just resting up for tonight when their injury report is available this afternoon. Regardless, this is a team running with a very 2024-25 Sixers-esque lineup each night and they have a 23-40 record to show for it. It’s not to say there’s not talent on the roster by any means, but they’re a far cry from a healthy Cavaliers team like last night.
The last time these two squads met was way back in late December. The Sixers won in overtime thanks to a game-winning three from Edgecombe, but the contest also featured Embiid and Maxey chipping in 34 points apiece as well as Morant leading for Memphis with 40. So, tonight bodes to look quite a bit different than that meeting.
There are a lot of opponents that the Sixers without Embiid, Maxey and George would have an excuse to not be able to compete with. Memphis in its current state truly is not one of them. Especially if Edgecombe is able to go, this is one they actually have a chance to turn into a desperately-needed win. It’s as close to an even matchup as they’re going to get right now.
The Sixers and Grizzlies tip off at 7 p.m. ET.
Game Details
When: Tuesday, March 10, 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
