The West’s very best Los Angeles Lakers attempt to finish off their road trip stong as they travel to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Philadelphia 76ers in the second Saturday primetime game of the season, live on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The Sixers’ tough stretch is approaching expeditiously, starting out with the “King”-led Lakers, who appear much different than their 2018 version. They’ll have to deal with stopping not only James but arguably the best teammate he’s ever had in Anthony Davis. This perfectly-healthy team treads into Philly going 2-1 on the week, with the lone loss coming by way of a Celtics 32-point beatdown on MLK Day.
Barely escaping the resurgent Knicks with an eight-point win in MSG, and a consecutive blowout of the Brooklyn Nets and James former teammate Kyrie Irving that saw James drop another triple-double as if it was part of the schedule, they walk into Philly with their 36-9 record while looking to be one step closer to being one of the only teams that’ll touch 40 wins at this point in the season.
For Philadelphia, it’s been a tale of complete opposites, as they’ve seemed to choke on their aspirations of winning the East a little too much, incongruent from the predictions of all media experts at season’s beginning. Ranked as the sixth seed in the East, they’re rolling into this one as a team that’s really just trying to survive the rest of the season while undermanned, since Josh Richardson is unable to go tonight due to a lingering hamstring problem.
They’re still waiting for Joel Embiid to at least return to full, 5v5 practice from his ligament damage in his hand that’s kept him out for the last two weeks, but as it seems, the Sixers are still maintaining that confidence in Ben Simmons, who has been the central force of all things offensively. Though Toronto found a way to slow him down a bit in their 2nd loss inside the Scotiabank Arena just last week, other pieces like Tobias Harris and Al Horford need to step up if they’re to make this one look competitive.
For a team that many speculated would be locks in the NBA Finals picture, this Sixers team has been overwhelmingly disappointing now 3 quarters in the season, but all is not lost. If Philly can get out the gates hot, and Ben Simmons can break down the middle of the Lakers’ injury-impacted frontcourt, that usually causes the shift in energy for his supporting cast as Horford, Harris, and others find a way to knock down their shots. Expect pieces like Matisse Thybulle and Furkan Kormaz to make their imprint on the matchup early and often, as the two rotational pieces have been the biggest surprise in Philly’s season thus far.
And again, for the second week in a row, Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy will be there to pitch their commentary and usual takes for another Saturday Primetime battle, live on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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