Pacers at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are trying to jump up into the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference but hit a bit of a snag on the road with All-Star center Joel Embiid sidelined. The 76ers will try to get things right at home when they host the team directly in front of them in the standings - the Indiana Pacers - on Sunday.
Philadelphia dropped a 108-107 decision at Chicago on Wednesday and fell flat with a chance to make a statement against one of the best teams in the West with a 107-91 setback at Houston on Friday. "(We've) just got to grow from this one, learn from this one, and keep it pushing," small forward Tobias Harris told reporters. "We've shown so many spurts of how good we can be." The two-game slide came at the wrong time for the 76ers, who missed a chance to overtake an Indiana squad that dropped four of its last six contests and was blown out 117-98 at East-leading Milwaukee to begin the two-game trip on Thursday. Indiana is trying to keep pace with the top half of the East playoff bracket despite being without All-Star guard Victor Oladipo the rest of the way and will play just two of its final 16 games against teams out of postseason contention in their respective conferences.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE PACERS (42-24): Indiana shot 38.9 percent from the floor at Milwaukee and never seriously threatened down the stretch while dropping its third straight road game. "We have to show road toughness," center Myles Turner told reporters. "We're going to be on the road a lot this month and the rest of the season. These are the types of games we have to be in and win." Turner did his part with 22 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks in the loss and leads the NBA in blocked shots at an average of 2.86.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (41-25): Embiid remains questionable due to knee soreness and the team does not seem to be in a rush to get him back on the floor, preferring to ensure he is at full health entering the postseason. "His spirits are great," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown told reporters of Embiid. "He sees how much he's missed. What that means in relation to his return, I don't know. What I can say is he's right on track in relation to getting stronger and having the knee feel better." Amir Johnson, Justin Patton and Jonah Bolden all took turns in the middle for the 76ers at Houston and combined for seven points on 3-of-11 shooting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers SG JJ Redick went 1-of-11 from the floor on Friday, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range.
2. Pacers SF Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging 25.5 points over the last six games.
3. The road team took each of the last four in the series, with Indiana earning a 113-101 win in its last trip to Philadelphia on Dec. 14.