Just as the Sixers seemed more normal and the vibes were good, Paul George got suspended… And then they went and gave up on Jared McCain at the trade deadline. It’s rightfully led to a bunch of harsh criticism being thrown their way.
But as I try to keep things positive and focused on basketball, while Josh Harris celebrates ducking the luxury tax yet again, the plus side is that the Sixers have still won six of their last seven games. There may have been a few close calls in there, but wins are wins.
It’s allowed them to take a firmer hold of the sixth seed as the NBA All-Star break approaches, and they now have a chance to close out their current West Coast road trip with a very respectable 4-1 record.
On Monday, they’re up against the 25-28 Trail Blazers. Portland have been more competitive than last season and their defense has been just shy of middle of the pack at 18th, but they’re still stuck at 10th in the West and continue to struggle on offense, ranking only 23rd in offensive rating.
As for the injury report, the only addition for the Sixers is Joel Embiid, who’s questionable with right knee injury management. The Blazers, on the other hand, will definitely be shorthanded. Apart from Damian Lillard who remains out for the season with an achilles injury, Kris Murray (lumbar strain), Matisse Thybulle (right knee tendinopathy), and the team’s second-leading scorer Shaedon Sharpe (left calf soreness) are all out. Robert Williams III (left knee injury management) is questionable, as is Deni Avdija due to a low back strain, which would be a particularly big loss for the Blazers on Monday.
Avdija has been having an excellent season as the Blazers’ leader on offense. He’s putting up by far the best offensive numbers of his career with 25.5 points and 6.7 assist per game, all while maintaining better efficiency than ever with a 61.1 true shooting percentage. His lofty free throw rate has given him a nice boost there, with him taking 9.5 a game.
Scoot Henderson has also just returned for the first time in 51 games. He tallied 11 points and nine assists in 21 minutes on Friday against the Grizzlies. It’ll be interesting to see if he can find some consistency and improve his efficiency moving forward.
Sophomore center Donovan Clingan will be one to keep an eye on too. He’ll obviously have a hard time containing Embiid and keeping the big fella off the free throw line, but Clingan is building off what he did as a rookie. He’s also leading the NBA in offensive rebounds with a seriously impressive 4.7 per game, so the Sixers’ boxouts will have to be consistent in this game to avoid giving up easy second chances. The 7-foot-2 center has been on a roll over the last week too, averaging 13.8 points, 15.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks over his last four games.
Especially if Embiid is out, the huge physical presence of Clingan will be a good test for Adem Bona as well whenever they’re matched up. And if the offense is missing Embiid, then hopefully for the Sixers they’ll continue to get similar helpful contributions from their forwards. Kelly Oubre Jr. (who’s having a quality two-way season in general) and Trendon Watford both provided a spark to help beat the Suns on Saturday.
Ultimately, Monday’s contest should be a solid opportunity for the Sixers to pick up another win as the All-Star break approaches. And before they have a far tougher matchup on Wednesday against the Knicks, this is one they should really be capitalizing on.
Game Details
When: Monday, February 9, 10 p.m. ET
Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
