The 31-20 Sixers beat the Spurs, played five straight games in Philadelphia, and have returned to Texas for a meeting with the 29-23 Mavericks.
Here are the essentials for the Friday night matchup:
- When: 10 p.m. ET with Sixers Pregame Live at 9:30 p.m.
- Where: American Airlines Center
- Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the MyTeams app
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
And here are storylines to watch:
How will Kidd take on Embiid?
Friday’s contest will be Mavs head coach Jason Kidd’s first game leading a team against Joel Embiid since the Bucks lost to the Sixers on Jan. 20, 2018. Milwaukee fired Kidd two days later.
As Dallas’ head coach, Rick Carlisle was open to using 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic on Embiid; he even started the endearing former Sixer last February for a Mavs loss in Philadelphia. Marjanovic minutes look less likely under Kidd, though. The Serbian big man hasn’t appeared in a game since Dec. 27.
NBA
Expect Maxi Kleber, Dwight Powell, Marquese Chriss and double teams to all be parts of the Mavs’ game plan against Embiid. Kristaps Porzingis is out with a right knee bone bruise.
‘We really need to respond,’ again
The Sixers sandwiched five consecutive wins between losses to the Clippers and Wizards.
Their next three games will play a major role in determining what the Eastern Conference standings look like before Thursday’s trade deadline. At the moment, the Sixers are in third and a game behind the first-place Bulls. After facing Dallas, the team will take on Chicago Sunday afternoon and then host the 41-10 Suns on Tuesday night.
The Washington loss was a sour finish to a 4-1 homestand, but the Sixers have thus far avoided stacking up bad defeats. They only have one losing streak this season in games where Embiid was available, a two-game skid in mid-December. Overall, the Sixers are 27-12 when Embiid plays.
“We’re a resilient group,” Georges Niang said Wednesday. “We realize all we have is in this locker room. And whoever’s playing that night has to continue to fight and claw and scrap, and that’s what we’re doing. We have a good Dallas team we have to play against. … We’re going to have our hands full, but I think we’re prepared. We respond. And we really need to respond with these next three games coming up.”
Will Curry return?
Seth Curry was scratched about an hour before the Sixers tipped off against Washington because of back spasms. He was listed as questionable for Friday’s matchup.
Furkan Korkmaz (left knee soreness) is still out, and Shake Milton’s absence with a back contusion has now extended beyond a month.
Curry’s status looms as a key question for this game. With very limited options, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers turned to Myles Powell for backup point guard minutes in the first half of the Wizards game and used Isaiah Joe as a ball handler in the second half. If Curry is back in action, the Sixers should be better off at point guard and a tad less dependent on Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris to generate offense.
Whether or not Curry plays, Matisse Thybulle seems to be the clear choice to defend Mavs star Luka Doncic. In Dallas’ overtime loss Wednesday to the Thunder, Doncic posted 40 points and 10 assists.