Knicks at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers were outscored by an average of 20 points on their just-completed three-game road trip as their latest losing streak reached eight straight. The 76ers will try to avoid making it nine in a row when they host the New York Knicks on Friday.
Philadelphia allowed a season-high 127 points in a loss at the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday and had no answer on defense in the interior. The 76ers are looking for small highlights and got a big one in the loss, when rookie forward Richaun Holmes rose for a vicious slam dunk over Al Horford in the paint. The Knicks have their own highlight-making rookie forward in Kristaps Porzingis, though the 7-3 Latvian is enduring a slump at the moment. Porzingis is 4-of-20 from the field over the last two games, but New York managed to pull out the victory in each behind Carmelo Anthony and Arron Afflalo.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (1-26): Philadelphia is shuffling the minutes between three point guards as Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall both make their way back from knee surgery. Marshall has been installed as the starter with T.J. McConnell and Wroten coming off the bench, though all three are expecting to play between 15 and 20 minutes. Wroten was the high scorer of the bunch with 12 points in 16 minutes on Wednesday while McConnell and Marshall each handed out four assists.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (12-14): Anthony came up one assist shy of a triple-double while collecting 20 points and 15 rebounds in Wednesday’s win, following up a 37-point effort in a win at the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. “It’s a faster pace game, a little bit more spacing,” Anthony told reporters. “When (Porzingis) is out there, there’s going to be some mismatches because the big man is away from the basket. It opens up lanes to drive to the basket for everybody else.” Porzingis did not light up the scoreboard on Wednesday but made his presence felt with seven blocked shots.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Porzingis went for 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in a 99-87 win over the 76ers on Dec. 2.
2. Afflalo is 5-of-9 from 3-point range in the last two games after going 0-of-13 from beyond the arc in the previous four contests.
3. Philadelphia C Nerlens Noel (corneal abrasion) missed the last two games and is day-to-day.