The 13-6 Sixers will begin a three-game road trip and stretch of seven of nine games away from Wells Fargo Center on Friday night when they play the 4-13 Timberwolves.
Here are the essentials:
- When: 8 p.m. EST with Sixers Pregame Live at 7:15 p.m.
- Where: Target Center
- Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the MyTeams app
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And here are three storylines to watch:
Injury news
Joel Embiid was listed as questionable throughout Friday with back tightness, though Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said during his pregame media availability that he expects Embiid to play.
“Yeah, I’m assuming that," Rivers said. "Again, with all of them, we let them go out, warm up and tell us. But yeah, I do.”
NBA
Embiid took an alarming fall in the Sixers’ win Wednesday night over the Lakers on a play in which he thought LeBron James should have been ejected. The Sixers are 13-2 when Embiid plays and 0-4 when he doesn’t. Mike Scott will miss his seventh consecutive game with right knee swelling.
Minnesota guard D’Angelo Russell will play after missing the past three games because of a right quad contusion, according to Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders. Second-year big man Naz Reid will be a game-time decision with a wrist injury.
Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns announced on Jan. 15 that he tested positive for COVID-19 and has been sidelined since. The virus has had a devastating personal impact on Towns, who told reporters last month that he’s seen seven family members, including his mother, die from COVID-19.
Another cellar dweller
The last time the Sixers played a team at or near the bottom of the standings, it didn’t go well.
Embiid didn’t like what he saw from his perspective on the bench in the team’s loss Monday to the Pistons.
“We’ve been playing well and we’ve got to keep that same mentality of we’ve got to win every game — but we’ve got to win games that we should,” he said. “That last loss against Detroit was a bad one, so those are the games that we should always win.”
Against a young Timberwolves team without its best player, Friday night’s matchup would fall under the “game the Sixers should always win” umbrella.
Some stats behind Harris’ step up
If one looked solely at Tobias Harris’ scoring average, there’d be no indication of the ways in which he’s elevated his play this season. After posting 19.6 points per game last year, he’s averaging 20.1 through his first 16 games.
Of course, Harris has made significant improvements in his efficiency and winning impact for the Sixers, and he couldn’t have entered the opening of All-Star voting with a much stronger impression than his game-winning jumper Wednesday night.
A few numerical illustrations from NBA.com/Stats of how specifically Harris has been better:
As a pick-and-roll ball handler:
- 2019-20: 3.3 possessions per game, 0.85 points per possession (53rd percentile)
- 2020-21: 4.3 possessions per game, 1.06 points per possession (83rd percentile)
On drives:
- 2019-20: 8.4 drives per game, 50.2 FG%, 5.3 points per game
- 2020-21: 9.3 drives per game, 58.1 FG%, 6.3 points per game
On catch-and-shoot three-pointers:
- 2019-20: 38.0 percent
- 2020-21: 46.9 percent
Even if Harris hits a bad slump at one point and starts missing some of the long-range jumpers he’s been making at a career-best rate, Rivers and the Sixers should be encouraged by how he’s playing. With his clean and confident decision-making, an extended poor stretch doesn’t look likely at the moment.