NBA Basketball is back! The Sixers are coming off the season opener with a solid win over the reigning NBA champion New York Knicks, defeating them 106-100. There isn’t much time to savor the win, however, as the Sixers travel back to Philadelphia to host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Coming off their first game, it’s hard not to feel good about how the Sixers performed in their regular-season debut. In particular, their defense was much better than most expected. Defensive rotations were crisp, and effort
was shown across the board, including from Joel Embiid, who stated after the game that one of his goals this season was to get back on an All-Defensive team.
Offensively, results were mixed, but the Sixers had several stretches where the Knicks’ defense simply didn’t know what to do. They ran high screen-and-rolls with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, which resulted in blitzes that freed up one or more of Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and VJ Edgecombe. When healthy and firing on all cylinders, defenses are going to have a hard time defending that five.
Fast forward to tonight’s game, and the Sixers will look to build upon their early success, though there’s plenty to clean up in that department. The Sixers’ three-point shooting was dreadful for most of the Knicks game, and they’ll look to get back on track in that area.
It will also be interesting to see how Nick Nurse utilizes the rotation. He really only went 7.5 players deep in their first game, and of course, that is not sustainable considering we’re not even in November. Both Dean Wade and Dominick Barlow, who are expected to be in the rotation to varying degrees, were out. If that’s the case again tonight, they might have to turn to rookie LaBaron Philon Jr. or Jabari Walker, who played a handful of minutes in their first game. Regardless of whether it’s tonight or in a week or two, Nurse will simply have to cut down the heavy minutes load with more than 80 games on the horizon.
Shifting focus over to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Sixers are slated to go from one tough opponent to the next. The Cavs retained most of their core group, with James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. They did change things up beyond that, however, adding Peyton Watson and Mario Hezonja in free agency, along with Meleek Thomas through the draft. The Sixers had their fair share of trouble against the Cavs during the regular season last year, so this will be another good test to gauge how this team is performing compared to last year’s.
Heading into tonight’s game, the Sixers are listing Dean Wade as questionable while Dominick Barlow remains out. For Cleveland, Jarrett Allen is questionable with right patellar tendinopathy. Nae’Qwan Tomlin (back) and Khalifa Diop (knee) are out.
The Sixers have an opportunity to start the young season with back-to-back wins against talented opponents in a highly competitive Eastern Conference. Let’s see if they can get it done.
Game Details
When: Thursday, October 22, 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: ESPN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
