Spurs at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a better team than anyone expected them to be prior to the season, and most of that surprise comes on the offensive end. The 76ers will be looking to outscore another opponent when they host the streaking San Antonio Spurs on Monday. Rookie Michael Carter-Williams and surprisingly consistent work from Evan Turner have Philadelphia averaging 105.9 points - good enough on a few occasions to make up for some poor defense.
The Spurs began their road trip by blowing out the New York Knicks 120-89 on Sunday and are winners of four straight while holding the opposition to an average of 88.3 points. The 76ers should be well prepared to face that defense as first-year head coach Brett Brown had a hand in putting it together as an assistant under San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich from 2006-2013. San Antonio will be on the second night of a back-to-back but should not be suffering much fatigue after not having a player go more than 26 minutes in its rout of the Knicks.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE SPURS (6-1): Popovich injected some life into his starting lineup on Sunday by giving Marco Belinelli and Boris Diaw starts as part of a smaller lineup, with Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter coming off the bench. Belinelli, Danny Green and Tony Parker combined to go 19-for-27 from the floor in a dominating effort from the backcourt. San Antonio had struggled to 39.2 percent from the field in a 76-74 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday but boosted that number to 53.9 percent with the new lineup.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (4-3): Philadelphia is already nearly a quarter of the way to the 16.5 wins predicted by Las Vegas before the season but is coming off one of the more entertaining losses of the earlier season - a 127-125 double-overtime setback at Cleveland. Tuner went for 31 points in the setback and is averaging a team-high 23.4 - with at least 18 in each of the first six games. The former No. 2 overall pick posted a double-double in each of the last two contests. “I’m playing hard,” Turner told Philly.com. “I worked on my game and I’m glad that it’s translating, and I’m playing with confidence.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs have taken four straight in the series by an average of 13.8 points.
2. Carter-Williams is 5-for-8 from 3-point range in the last two contests after slumping to 2-for-11 in the previous two.
3. San Antonio F Matt Bonner (calf) has missed three straight games and is day-to-day.