Magic at 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is two games into his NBA career and is on a strict minutes limit but has no problem telling people that his peers are the best centers in the league. Embiid will try to keep backing up that strong talk and finally put the 76ers in the win column when they host another strong center in Nikola Vucevic and the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
Embiid, who sat out each of the last two seasons after undergoing multiple foot surgeries, is averaging 17 points and two blocks through the first two games of the season despite being limited to a total of 37 minutes as coach Brett Brown tries to keep him around an average of 20 minutes in the early going. “Dwight is kind of one of my rivals in the East," Embiid told reporters after going up against Dwight Howard in a 104-72 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. "Just going against all those guys, (Detroit’s Andre Drummond), Dwight, I want to just show that I’m better than them, so it just fires me up.” Vucevic might not find himself in as many headlines as the likes of Howard and Drummond but has been just as productive, averaging a double-double in three of the last four seasons. Vucevic is adjusting to another new coach in Frank Vogel and is seeing his scoring average dip to 11.7 points in the first three games but is making up the difference on the glass with 12.3 rebounds.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Orlando), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE MAGIC (0-3): Orlando brought in Bismack Biyombo to back up Vucevic and traded for veteran forward Serge Ibaka to bolster the defense along the front line, but scoring remains an issue. "People keep saying it’s the start of the season and we’re still trying to find the chemistry and all of that stuff," Biyombo told the team's website after a 105-99 loss in Cleveland on Saturday, "but it’s been a month (since the start of training camp) and now we’ve got to go." Evan Fournier poured in 22 points against the Cavaliers to lead the team and is pacing the Magic with an average of 16.7 points.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (0-2): Embiid's emergence is exciting for the fans and the organization but is not being greeted with joy by incumbent center Nerlens Noel, who is yet to play this season due to an injury. Noel is one of three young centers on the roster along with Embiid and Jahlil Okafor and is reportedly not close to signing an extension with the team and could become a restricted free agent after the season. Okafor (knee) is on a minutes limit as well and is coming off the bench for now behind Embiid and is 6-of-17 from the floor in a total of 31 minutes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers rookie F Dario Saric is 4-of-21 from the floor, including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.
2. Magic PG Elfrid Payton is averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 assists.
3. Orlando took seven of the last nine in the series, including four straight at Philadelphia.