Fifty-seven Sixers games down, one to go before the All-Star break.
They’ll hope Thursday’s contest against the Bucks is nothing like Tuesday’s 48-point home loss to the Celtics.
Here are essentials for the game:
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- When 8:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Fiserv Forum
- Broadcast: TNT
And here are storylines to watch:
An eye on the MVP race
Joel Embiid ranked first in ESPN’s Tim Bontemps’ latest MVP straw poll, narrowly ahead of Nikola Jokic. Giannis Antetokounmpo was third, although he’ll surely make a push for his third MVP if he keeps playing like he did Tuesday.
NBA
In Milwaukee’s win over the Pacers, Antetokounmpo scored 50 points on 17-for-21 shooting from the floor. Embiid took 23 field goals on his 50-point night against the Magic in January.
A strong Embiid performance (and Sixers win) against Antetokounmpo would be memorable at season’s end in the context of the MVP chase. The Sixers have lost six consecutive times to the Bucks and haven’t beaten Milwaukee since Christmas of 2019. Embiid, Tobias Harris and Furkan Korkmaz are the only Sixers who appeared in that game still on the team’s roster.
More shots bound to drop
How wayward was the Sixers’ shooting against Boston? The team’s 28.8 field goal percentage was its worst since a 27.0 mark in a Feb. 9, 2014 loss to the Clippers.
There’s clearly a very good chance the Sixers have some sort of bounce-back performance Thursday. One reason for that is the current version of the Bucks is not menacing defensively. Milwaukee’s 116.8 defensive rating over the past two weeks ranks 22nd in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass.
Brook Lopez (back surgery), Pat Connaughton (right hand surgery) and George Hill (neck soreness) are out for the Bucks. Grayson Allen was listed as doubtful with left hip soreness and Wesley Matthews was probable with right toe soreness.
James Harden traveled with the Sixers to Milwaukee but is sidelined through the All-Star break as he rehabs his left hamstring.
Implications in the East
At 36-23, the Bucks have two more games played and two more victories than the Sixers, who sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.
Ideally, the Sixers will be able to incorporate Harden after the break while staying close to the teams at the top of the East. A win Thursday would make that a touch easier.
It likely won’t matter for the Sixers unless the team plays well, but the Bucks’ remaining strength of schedule is the NBA’s hardest, according to Tankathon. The top-seeded Bulls are No. 2 in remaining strength of schedule, the Sixers No. 10.
“We’re playing for April, May and June … make sure we’re all healthy and have our good chemistry,” Danny Green said Monday. “So the biggest challenge for us is to keep our rhythm and get (Harden) in his rhythm, and in the same rhythm as us. And we’ll figure out how to play with him, and vice versa.
“Obviously winning games is important. We want to stay in a good seeding. But the biggest thing is our health right now and regardless of our seeding, get guys in good health. … Regardless of what seed we are, I think we’re a dangerous team and nobody wants to see us in the playoffs in a first - or second-round series."