December 18, 2023
Kyle Ross/USA TODAY Sports
Joel Embiid and the Sixers will host Karl-Anthony Towns and the Western Conference-best Minnesota Timberwolves this Wednesday.
The Philadelphia 76ers, winners of their last six contests, will return home for the next three this week. They'll face the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Toronto Raptors. Each game presents different storylines worth monitoring, so here's run through them:
Five of the Sixers' last six games have come against teams at the bottom of the standings (Washington twice, Detroit twice, and Charlotte once). In many recent seasons, the Sixers have struggled to handle their business against lowly teams en route to stress-free wins. Not only did the Sixers win all five of those aforementioned games, but they did so more than handily. Their average margin of victory across those five games was 30.6 points – yes, you are reading that right.
Now, they prepare to face a Bulls team that is making some strides of late but is standing with a record of 10-17. If Joel Embiid and co. can come out firing yet again, there is a real chance of another massive blowout that will enable Embiid to keep his minutes relatively low.
The Bulls will be without All-Star and trade candidate Zach LaVine, who is nursing a foot injury. However, Chicago has won five of its last eight contests, thanks to brilliant scoring and improved playmaking from All-Star DeMar DeRozan and a massive shooting heater from Coby White, who over the last eight games has averaged 25.6 points and nearly five three-point makes per game. He has been far and away the best three-point shooter in the NBA through December.
Minnesota has been the best team in the Western Conference all season, standing at a remarkable 19-5, tied with the Boston Celtics for the best record in the NBA.
What makes them different from most teams is their roster construction. In a league where more and more teams zig toward playing small ball, the Wolves have zagged and built a team around two big-men in scoring aficionado Karl-Anthony Towns and defensive stalwart Rudy Gobert. Between those two and big, strong wings like Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, they frequently flex their muscles against smaller teams.
The Sixers are not particularly small relative to the rest of the league, but against the Wolves they will need to be ready to exhibit a whole lot of physicality. Embiid will likely defend Gobert to stay close to the rim, which leaves the Sixers without an ideal option to guard the 7-foot Towns. It will require a tremendous amount of defensive cohesion to limit Minnesota's offense, and the Sixers will need Embiid to score at will against the early Defensive Player of the Year favorite in Gobert.
One fun note: this will be former Sixer Shake Milton's return to Philadelphia. He is part of Minnesota's second unit alongside excellent role players like Kyle Anderson, Naz Reid, and youngsters Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Troy Brown Jr., who have given the Timberwolves solid minutes.
The Sixers played Toronto twice early in the season and nabbed a win each time. Aside from big games from Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, the biggest factor in their wins was Tobias Harris completely outclassing Pascal Siakam on both ends of the floor.
Heading into the season, this is not something one would expect to see. Siakam is a better overall player than Harris by some margin, but is also taller, longer, and considerably more athletic and explosive. Harris has understandably struggled with that archetype of player in the past, but in recent matchups he seems to have Siakam's number.
In the first game the two teams played, Harris was aggressive, shooting almost as many free throws (seven) as Siakam shot field goals (eight), while Siakam also committed four fouls. In the second game, Harris had a fantastic line of 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Siakam scored just 10 points, grabbed only three rebounds, and committed five fouls.
Nurse attributed Harris' stellar two-way showings in those games to effort and determination.
"Tobias was really good on the offensive end, but he was just as good on the defensive end," Nurse said after the second matchup. "I think it starts with being determined to make his catches hard... Tobias did a great job of avoiding [screens] and being there on the catch."
"Usually when a possession can start well, it will end well."
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