The Sixers put together another late, hard-fought effort on Wednesday, but ultimately still lost to the Raptors, 121-112, after clawing their way back in the fourth. After a host of turnovers and losing the third quarter 44-26, their scrappy effort in the final period just wasn’t enough to make up for it.
Now, to complete this week’s back-to-back, the Sixers are on the road against the 8-7 Bucks.
We’ll have to wait until closer to tip-off for an official Sixers injury report, but on Wednesday, Joel
Embiid (right knee), Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee), Paul George (knee) and Adem Bona (ankle) were all out. It wouldn’t be surprising to see George back against the Bucks, though, as he never would’ve been expected to appear in both ends of a back-to-back right after returning from injury.
This Bucks matchup will be entirely different than how it was looking a few days ago. On Tuesday, we found out that Giannis Antetokounmpo will be missing 1-2 weeks with a low grade left groin strain. Giannis has been having an incredible season so far. Arguably being even more pivotal to the Bucks’ competitiveness than he has been before — seeing as they’ve still only managed the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference so far.
Giannis has averaged 31.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.2 blocks per game with the best efficiency (a 66.2 true shooting percentage) of his career.
In his absence, the Bucks are going to need to lean far more heavily on the likes of Kyle Kuzma, their new center Myles Turner, and Ryan Rollins. Rollins in particular has stepped up so far this season for the offense, becoming the Bucks’ second-leading scorer and taking on far higher usage at 17.4 points per game on strong shooting splits of 51.3/46.3/77.4.
The other names on the Bucks’ injury report who won’t be available either are Kevin Porter Jr. (right knee meniscus surgery) and Taurean Prince (neck surgery).
It goes without saying that no Giannis makes this contest far more winnable for these Sixers. So far this year, the Bucks have had a +8.0 net rating with Giannis on the floor and an ugly -13.0 net rating without him. That just about sums it up.
With less rim protection to worry about now that Giannis won’t be helping around the paint alongside Turner, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes should be spurred on to aggressively attack the rim even more than normal. George ideally suiting up again will help too, giving the Sixers a boost at a time when they desperately need more help on the wing without Oubre.
The Sixers will need to clean up their passing and care of the ball as well, following 21 turnovers on Wednesday against Toronto.
It’ll also be interesting to keep an eye on Jared McCain. He was able to get his first points of the season in just under 14 minutes against the Raptors.
Playing on tired legs — especially on the road — is never easy, but the Sixers should have a decent chance to grab a win and rediscover some momentum against a faltering Bucks team without its anchor at both ends of the floor.
Game Details
When: Thursday, November 20, 8:00 p.m. ET
Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
