Sixers face Suns in fourth straight loss

With both teams in the rematch of back-to-back games, the Philadelphia 76ers travel to Phoenix to face the Suns on Saturday night.

As the regular season winds down, Philadelphia is currently trying to navigate the road, and its winning streak has taken a hit. On Friday night, the Sixers missed James Harden, whose Achilles injury sidelined him the last two games, and Jalen McDaniels, who suffered a hip injury last Monday. Danuel House Jr. was also late for Friday’s game with a sore shoulder. Basically, it’s possible the Sixers will be hampered by a crowded injury report again on Saturday night, but we’ll just have to wait and see when the injury report comes out.

However, the Sixers received a huge 7-foot boost last night when Joel Embiid returned from a hamstring strain at halftime in their midweek game against the Chicago Bulls. That didn’t seem to bother him last night, as he danced and rolled to 46 points in the Sixers’ loss to the Warriors.

Injuries affect star players on both sides, however. The Suns are still without 13-time NBA star Kevin Durant, who sprained his ankle during a March 8 warmup. Durant only played three games for the Suns before his injury, averaging 26.7 points in those games. Granted, the sample size is small, but that’s KD.
Every time he loses is a huge loss for his team. The other notable Suns injury was Deandre Ayton, who was ruled out of this game early with a lingering hip injury, missing his fourth straight game.

All things considered, expect the Suns to be led by Devin Booker and Chris Paul. Booker led the Suns with 28.2 points per game, and Paul averaged 9.1 points per game as a main mover for Phoenix. In the absence of Durant and Ayton, the Suns’ offensive success hinges heavily on Booker’s recent performance.
He averaged 32.4 points per game in March and scored 30 or more points in nine of 13 games this month.

Phoenix suffered its third straight loss last night, losing 135-127 to the Sacramento Kings in the first round of back-to-back games. Booker scored 32 points and Paul scored a double-double with 15 points and 13 assists. The 38-35 Suns currently sit fifth in the Western Conference, half a game behind the fourth-placed Los Angeles Clippers.

Kyle Lowry: injury-prone, coach-killer … Greatest Raptor Ever

Kyle Lowry would go on to become a champion, a team player, and perhaps the best Toronto Raptors team ever. That’s especially surprising considering Lowry’s prior reputation: He’s known for being short-tempered, injury-prone, resistant to change, and he never wanted to be a part of the Raptors in the first place. Let’s meet the former Kyles and see how they fit and fit into Kyle’s story.

Meanwhile, the Sixers are coming off a Friday night loss to the Warriors, who snapped a seven-game road winning streak. Embiid scored 46 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Warriors’ prowess from beyond the arc. Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris are actually the Sixers’ only other major offensive contributors. With Harden out, the rest of the 76ers roster will need to step up if they are to fill the void and pick up a win tonight.

The Sixers and Suns will meet for the last time on November 7, 2022 at the Wells Fargo Center. The Suns topped the opening weeks of the season at 7-3, while the Sixers struggled a bit at 4-6. Still, Embiid scored 33 points and George Niang hit seven – yes, seven – 3-pointers to lead the Sixers to a 100-88 victory. The 76ers were also without Harden for this game, as he just suffered a right foot injury that will keep him out for over a month.

The Sixers currently rank third in offensive rating (117.0) and sixth in defensive rating (111.9). By comparison, the Suns rank 15th in offensive rating (114.2) and ninth in defensive rating (112.2).