The Philadelphia 76ers are back home to host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the front end of a back-to-back in Philly. The Sixers are hoping to have moved past the ugly 114-98 loss to the Celtics on Sunday, while the Spurs will look to recover from a blowout loss to the Knicks, 114-89, on Sunday, the only loss in their last 12 games.
Who: San Antonio Spurs (43-17) at Philadelphia 76ers (33-27)
When: 8:00 p.m. EST
Where: XFinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA League Pass, FanDuel Sports Network Southwest
The Sixers are in a tough position, without Joel Embiid in this matchup, but that's been the case off and on for some time. While the star center will miss at least the next two games, the Sixers must have him on the court as much as possible, moving forward. Without Embiid and despite the best efforts of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Kelly Oubre Jr., the team simply will not win consistently.
Speaking of Oubre, he will also miss tonight's matchup alongside Embiid, Paul George, Johni Broome and MarJon Beauchamp.
It's nearly impossible to imagine the Sixers doing anything in the playoffs without Embiid. For the season, the team has an offensive rating of 115.9, which ranks 15th in the league and suggests an average squad. Look deeper, and you'll see that with Embiid on the court, that number jumps to 118.5, which would be good enough for sixth, and without Embiid, they're at 113.5, putting them 24th in the league. You can see where this is going.
The team is not built to survive without Embiid on the court, and while the excitement of Maxey's ascension to the top of the league's scorers and VJ Edgecombe's talent and tenacity are great stories for the team, there's something wrong in Philadelphia, and it's not getting better until the oblique is healed.
The Spurs are heading to Philadelphia to take on a depleted Sixers team after getting blown out, 114-89, by the Knicks on Sunday. That loss will make for one motivated team looking to get back into the win column. Wembanyama leads the way for San Antonio, averaging 23.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. "Wemby" has quickly ascended to become one of the league's elite players, as expected, and is continuing to improve.
The Spurs had run off 11 straight wins before the Knicks' loss and jumped all the way to the second seed in the Western Conference. It's no stroke of luck, either, as the team boasts eight players scoring in double digits this season, De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell among them. After getting past all of those talents, opposing teams still have to deal with depth players like Dylan Harper, who was drafted second overall in the 2025 NBA draft.
The team's 117.6 offensive rating ranks 10th, while their 111.4 defensive rating ranks third overall. Combine that with the league-best 1.081 defensive efficiency rating, and you have a complete team that's been running over everyone. During their winning streak, they've beaten lowly teams like the Nets and Mavericks, as well as contenders and playoff teams, including the Pistons, Thunder, Lakers, and Suns. The team is a complete package and a problem for all of their opponents.
Ideally, this game would feature a head-to-head battle between Edgecombe and Harper, who were picked in the top-three of the past draft, but the Spurs are a deep team, and the young and talented Harper is only seeing 22.1 minutes per game, while Edgecombe has become a focal point for the Sixers and is sixth in the league in minutes per game.
The duo of Maxey and Edgecombe will need to be at their absolute best against one of the best defensive teams in the league, and that doesn't bode well for a Sixers team that isn't very good without Joel Embiid. The saving grace is that the Sixers are a better three-point shooting team this season and may be able to find some rhythm from beyond the arc, helping keep the game close.
The game will come down to physicality, and the Sixers will need huge nights from Andre Drummond and Adem Bona if they're going to slow down the Spurs' offense, especially Wembanyama. If the team gets good, quality defense from those two, while moving the ball and creating some open looks for its shooters, they have a good chance of taking down one of the top teams in the league.
Spurs 117 — Sixers 94
