There is never any rest for the weary in the NBA. After a thrilling 98-93 win over New York, their second over the defending champions on this young season, the Sixers are back in action less than 24 hours later on the road against the Charlotte Hornets.
It’s reasonable to expect a much different looking Sixers team for this game. After missing last night’s Knicks win with patellar tendinopathy in his left knee, it’s hard to imagine Jaylen Brown will be available to play. Joel Embiid and LeBron James
both played in the front end against the Knicks, so it feels likely neither of them will be available either.
Charlotte is still waiting on Kon Knueppel, Coby White and Grant Williams to make their season debuts. They could also have more guys out of the lineup having also played Friday. They lost to the Wizards in Washington, falling to 3-3 on the season.
The Sixers went 2-1 against the Hornets last season but with the Sixers adding Brown and James and the Hornets trading Lamelo Ball, these teams are way too different to take anything from that. In a very small sample size and without one of their best players, the Hornets are currently profiling as a drastically different team.
At the time of writing, they are 30th in points scored per 100 possessions, a number skewed by their 79-point performance in Washington. They’re 10th in points allowed, according to Cleaning the Glass. They’ve won all three of their games by seven points or less. Two of their three losses have been by 15 points or more.
Fresh off a contract extension, Brandon Miller is averaging 25.6 points per game this season but is just shooting 39% from the field. Even potentially without LeBron and Brown, the Sixers seem as equipped to handle talented scoring wings as ever. Dean Wade is coming off a phenomenal night guarding OG Anunoby.
Assuming Embiid doesn’t play, Adem Bona and whoever else fills the center minutes could have their hands full with Naz Reid. As the starting center on his new team, Reid has averaged 17 points per game shooting 43% from the field and a scalding 42% from three on seven attempts so far this season. Ryan Kalkbrenner, their backup, could also give them problems just by being a long seven-foot-one.
This should be a fast paced one, with the Sixers also wanting to fly up and down the floor with their guards running the show. VJ Edgecombe should be in line for his first real high usage game of the season. He’s been great as a glue guy but has only scored over 15 points once this season. The only thing he hasn’t done well so far is shoot the ball. He’s shooting just 29% from three this season, but hit a massive triple from the top of the key to help seal that win against the Knicks.
Even against a team like Charlotte, the Sixers will need big games from both members of VJ Maxx, or potentially another heater from Anfernee Simons to sweep this back-to-back. It will take a village to fill center minutes for the time being, assuming Embiid isn’t available.
Game Details
When: Saturday, October 31, 6:00 pm ET
Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
Watch: NBCSP/PCK-PHI
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
