Knicks at 76ers
The fight for the most pingpong balls in the draft lottery takes another head-to-head turn Friday when the Philadelphia 76ers host the New York Knicks. The Knicks, who earned a shocking overtime victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime on Thursday to drop to the bottom of the standings. The 76ers are coming off a 94-83 win over the Detroit Pistons and have taken three of their last seven.
Philadelphia is in the midst of a string of five straight against lottery teams that started with the win over the Pistons and will continue on a three-game road trip after finishing up with the Knicks. The 76ers have held four of their last seven opponents under 95 points and forced 18 turnovers while holding the Pistons to 33 percent from the field Wednesday. Philadelphia held the Knicks under 100 in each of the first two meetings but couldn't get much scoring of its own done in a pair of losses.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE KNICKS (14-54): New York’s loss Thursday dropped it a game behind the Timberwolves and two back of the 76ers in the race to avoid the worst record in the league. The Knicks are almost certainly going to end up with one of the four worst records in the NBA but are showing some fight of late behind rookie point guard Langston Galloway, who went for 22 points in the win over the Spurs and followed it up with 21 points and seven rebounds against Minnesota. Galloway and Alexey Shved, who is averaging 19.7 points in the last three games, are forming the makings of strong backcourt for the future.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (16-52): Philadelphia is taking long looks at nearly everyone on the roster, and nine players logged between 22 and 26 minutes against Detroit. Rookie Nerlens Noel is getting some of the most consistent time in the frontcourt but left Wednesday’s game early in the fourth quarter after landing awkwardly on his right foot. “He could have returned tonight,” 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters. “I just felt like Furkan (Aldemir) was playing well, and the game was under control. We just decided to let Nerlens get a little bit more rest.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Knicks have taken four straight in the series and three in a row in Philadelphia.
2. 76ers G Ish Smith, who averages 4.3 points on the season, has put up 14.6 in the last three contests.
3. New York G Tim Hardaway Jr. (wrist) and F Cleanthony Early (ankle) each have missed the past two games and are day-to-day.