The Sixers (9-60) close out their three-game homestand when they host the Boston Celtics (39-30) at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night (6 p.m./CSN).
Let’s take a closer look at the matchup:
1. Point to the problem
Sunday’s matchup doesn’t just close out the Sixers’ recent stretch at home. It also ends their brief run against some of the NBA’s best point guards.
If you’ve been keeping track, the first two games didn’t go so well.
The Sixers allowed John Wall to notch 16 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds for his second consecutive triple-double in a 99-94 loss to the Washington Wizards. They followed that up by letting Russell Westbrook run wild for 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his league-leading 13th triple-double in a 111-97 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now the Sixers welcome in a point guard who could perhaps give them even more fits than Wall and Westbrook.
Boston PG Isaiah Thomas has dominated the Sixers throughout his career and this season has been no different. Thomas has averaged 25.7 points on 50.9 percent shooting along with 5.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game this season against the Sixers. For his career, Thomas has put up 21.1 points per contest vs. the Sixers, his most against any opponent.
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2. Shoot first
With the Sixers unlikely to figure out a sound defensive strategy to slow Thomas and the Celtics, they will opt to respond with some of their own offensive firepower.
Lately, that has included consistent production from guards Isaiah Canaan and Nik Stauskas.
Canaan scored in double figures for the fourth straight night against the Thunder with 10 points and three made three-pointers. For the month of March, Canaan is averaging 13.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.8 made threes per game.
Meanwhile, Stauskas poured in a career-high 23 points in the loss to the Thunder. It marked his fourth double-digit scoring performance in the past five games. Stauskas is giving the Sixers 10.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game so far this month.
3. Blasted on the boards
All of that additional scoring won’t mean much if the Sixers keep getting pummeled on the glass.
The Sixers have been outrebounded by a combined total of 123-76 in losses to the Wizards and Thunder. In each of those matchups the Sixers allowed three different opposing players to grab double-digit boards.
While rebounding has been a season-long struggle (the Sixers are tied for last in the NBA with 41.1 a game), head coach Brett Brown attributed the recent woes to the team’s depleted roster.
“I think that we miss (Robert) Covington coming in and getting some of those long rebounds. We miss Richaun Holmes coming in,” he said (see story). “I think in general it’s an area that we have to get better in, but that common denominator on the last two nights in some ways doesn’t shock me.”
The Sixers’ undermanned lineup will have a hard time reversing that trend against a Boston team that ranks sixth in the league in rebounding.
4. Injuries
Jonas Jerebko (ankle) is a game-time decision and Jae Crowder (ankle) is out for the Celtics.
Covington (concussion) and Holmes (Achilles) are day to day.
5. This and that
• The Sixers have lost seven straight to the Celtics.
• The Celtics have lost four in a row overall to go from third in the Eastern Conference to sixth.
• The Sixers have lost the rebounding battle by an average of 13.1 since Jahlil Okafor has been sidelined.
• Evan Turner has averaged 7.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in nine games against his former team.