Hornets at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers finally got a monkey off their back with their first road win on Wednesday and have a chance to make it back-to-back victories when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. The 76ers, who have yet to lose in their own arena, are staring at a three-game road trip beginning Saturday in Memphis.
Philadelphia appeared to bottom out with a 122-97 loss at Brooklyn on Sunday but looked like a different team in Wednesday's 100-94 triumph at the Indiana Pacers, and point guard Ben Simmons offered a simple explanation. "We just had fun. Honestly, just have fun," Simmons told reporters. “I think we were just overthinking things, putting too much pressure on ourselves." The Hornets spent their last two games beating up on teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with double-digit wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks at home. Charlotte, which suffered a 105-103 loss at Philadelphia on Oct. 27, went 3-1 on its homestand and is kicking off a three-game road trip on Friday before returning home on Nov. 17 to host the 76ers.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, FS Southeast (Charlotte), NBCS Philadelphia
ABOUT THE HORNETS (6-5): Charlotte is led by All-Star point guard Kemba Walker, who contributed 29 points on 12-of-22 shooting and seven assists in Tuesday's 113-102 win over Atlanta, boosting his scoring average to 28.1. The 28-year-old, who scored 37 points in the Oct. 27 loss at Philadelphia, also grabbed a season-high three steals on Tuesday as part of a defensive effort that forced the Hawks into 22 turnovers. Power forward Marvin Williams scored a season-high 20 points on Tuesday after managing single digits in eight of the first 10 games.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (7-5): Philadelphia forward Dario Saric got off to a slow start shooting the basketball and was at 23.3 percent from 3-point range before going 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in Wednesday's win. Saric, who averaged 14.6 points and shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range last season, scored a season-high 18 points at Indiana. "I thought in general he was excellent," 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters of Saric. "He made shots, he made some tremendous reads on passing. I thought that his floor game, along with his shooting, was as good as it's been all year."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers SG JJ Redick is 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in the last two games.
2. Hornets SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (finger) left Tuesday's game and is questionable for Friday.
3. Philadelphia took the last seven in the series, including four in a row at home.