The Philadelphia 76ers are in Milwaukee on Friday night to take on the Bucks after a wild win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. They'll be looking to extend their winning streak to three games while the Bucks will be looking for their second in a row after beating the Pistons at home on Wednesday night.
Who: Philadelphia 76ers (12-9) at Milwaukee Bucks (10-13)
When: 8:00 p.m. EST
Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA League Pass, FanDuel Sports Network North
The Sixers are coming off a Thursday night win over the Golden State Warriors that saw them jump out to a 22-point halftime lead only to squander that in the second half. In the end, two of the team's biggest stars helped the team claim victory. Down by one, Tyrese Maxey missed a mid-range jumper, only to have VJ Edgecombe crashing the lane, grabbing the ball out of the air and laying it in for the go-ahead points. The Warriors threw a three-quarter court pass to a sprinting De'Anthony Melton for what looked like a sure game-winner. Maxey had other thoughts, soaring from behind and swatting away his former teammates' shot to secure the victory.
The late-game heroics aside, it wasn't a good game for the team as Joel Embiid and Quentin Grimes combined to shoot 0-11 on their three-point attempts and just 10-26 from the floor. The rest of the team shot pretty well, for the most part, with Maxey leading the way with 35 points on 13-27 shooting. If they're going to beat the Bucks, the team is going to have to figure out how to use all of their players correctly, something that Nick Nurse has had trouble with all season.
Jared McCain, who's looked much more like the player everyone expected this season, has seen his minutes decrease over the past three games, despite shooting very well. At this point, the Sixers coach should have McCain on the floor a lot more, especially given his preference to run Maxey into the ground. If Grimes is having an off-night, then McCain should be able to be plugged in, but that hasn't been the case as Grimes has averaged 38 minutes per game over his last five.
The Bucks will have had some rest coming into their game against the Bucks after a huge win over the first-place Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. The night didn't start off well as Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with a calf strain, just three minutes into the game. Giannis is expected to miss 2 to 4 weeks, and this comes just as news of the potential to trade the former two-time NBA MVP has started to increase.
Without Antetokounmpo, the team will rely on Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins, AJ Green, Miles Turner and Bobby Portis Jr. to carry the weight with a tough stretch of games over the next few weeks. While they were able to come through against the Pistons, the group doesn't seem like a combination for continued success, especially over the next month.
While the Sixers' emotions should be high after the way they made two great plays to beat the Warriors, the troubling part is that the team shot just 26.3% from the three-point line. The Bucks are the top three-point shooting team in the league, so the Sixers will have to have one of their best defensive games.
If this season, despite its ups and downs, is any indication of what to expect, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe will provide plenty of excitement, and the team will be competitive. The issue is whether the rest of the squad can step up against a team that should be tough to play in their usual style.
Still without Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford, the team will be missing Joel Embiid on the tail end of their back-to-back. The rest of the squad should be ready to go, even Paul George.
Sixers 113 - Bucks 127
