Knicks at 76ers
After laying another egg on the road, the Philadelphia 76ers can look forward to a two-game stay at home beginning with Wednesday's visit by the New York Knicks. The 76ers are 14-3 on their home floor but fell to 6-9 away from Philadelphia with Monday's 123-96 loss at San Antonio, the team's third setback in the last four games overall.
"You can talk about Xs and Os, you can talk about a bunch of stuff but to me, our spirit was down," Sixers coach Brett Brown told reporters after the loss, which came 24 hours after a win in Cleveland. "We are poor in back-to-backs. That is a fact and we have to find a way to do better." The Knicks seem to be perpetually trying to find ways to do better and they enter this one on the heels of a 128-110 home loss to the Phoenix Suns, who improved to 2-13 on the road with their runaway win at Madison Square Garden. "The water was coming through the dam through so many holes," coach David Fizdale told the media, referring specifically to the Suns' 41-17 advantage in the third quarter that turned the game around. Included in New York's current 2-9 stretch is a 117-91 loss at Philadelphia on Nov. 28.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), NBCS Philadelphia
ABOUT THE KNICKS (9-23): As New York looks for positives going forward it has to focus on the recent play of point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who had 32 points in the loss to Phoenix and is averaging 20 to go along with 5.8 assists in nine December games. "I think the first thing he had to prove to himself and to everyone was is he a legitimate NBA basketball player and I think that's proven right now so now the next step is can we get him to really grow and develop and show the consistency of what a lead guard can do," Fizdale told reporters of the 22-year-old Mudiay. "But he's really, he's taken off and really gotten better every day." Leading scorer Tim Hardaway Jr. (heel) missed Monday's game and is day-to-day.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (20-12): Stars Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler combined to shoot 9-of-30 while missing all nine of their 3-point tries at San Antonio. "Defensively, they put us in tough situations to execute our offense," Embiid told reporters. "I had a pretty bad shooting night, Jimmy did (too). They made us uncomfortable." Embiid averages 28.6 points on 50 percent shooting at home, compared to 23.8 on 43.7 percent on the road.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Embiid had 26 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in last month's win over the Knicks while Hardaway was 1-for-11 from the floor and scored a season-low five points for New York.
2. Sixers PG Ben Simmons is shooting 66.3 percent over his last nine games.
3. Philadelphia has taken five straight over the Knicks at home.