January 11, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Will Joel Embiid suit up for the Sixers' contest against Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks on Wednesday?
Losing to an undermanned version of the worst team in the Western Conference -- as the Sixers did on Friday night, when the New Orleans Pelicans came to Philadelphia and handled the Sixers without Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III or Zion Williamson -- is a painful experience.
But when looking ahead on the Sixers' schedule, Friday night's loss suddenly becomes ominous. That is because of the Sixers' next 16 contests, 15 come against teams who currently sport winning percentages of .500 or better. During that span, the team has five pairs of games on back-to-back nights -- calling into question how often Joel Embiid will be available.
The Sixers' brutal stretch over the next few weeks starts with a tough game on Sunday before one of the most challenging back-to-backs imaginable in the middle of the week. Let's preview the week ahead:
The Magic are one of the few NBA teams who can relate to the sort of devastation the Sixers have experienced due to injuries this season. Orlando has also had multiple star players miss significant portions of the season and they have also seen role players go down.
The only difference between the Sixers and the Magic? Even without Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero for several weeks each, the Magic have found ways to win games. The new-look Sixers have been open about how difficult it can be to win games when the team's rotation is constantly being shuffled to account for injuries and returns. Meanwhile, the Magic -- whose roster this season is extremely similar to their personnel last season -- have taken every blow in stride and figured out all sorts of formulas to win NBA games.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley deserves an enormous amount of credit for helping his team stay afloat amid their disastrous stretch of injuries -- that they are 22-18 through 40 games with all of the obstacles in their path is absolutely remarkable -- and would be a terrific Coach of the Year candidate if Kenny Atkinson was not on pace to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to 70-plus wins.
Banchero appeared to be blossoming in his third NBA campaign, averaging 28.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists across his first five games of the season. But he missed more than two months after that torrid opening to the season when it was revealed that the former No. 1 overall pick had suffered a serious oblique injury.
However, Banchero returned to action on Friday night, and in just 26 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks, he poured in 34 points on 11-for-21 shooting from the field and 5-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc while also collecting seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. It was a massively successful return for Banchero, who will be a handful for the Sixers on Sunday -- in what will surely be the most consequential game a Philadelphia sports team participates in that day.
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The most hellish back-to-back of the Sixers season takes place in Philadelphia, beginning on Tuesday against an Oklahoma City team which is also going to make a push for 70 wins if they continue to play the sort of basketball they have been playing since October.
The Thunder sport not just one of the NBA's best defenses, but one of the single best defenses in league history to this point, absolutely mauling players at every position, forcing turnovers and creating all sorts of havoc. Last year, the Sixers learned the hard away how effective veteran center Isaiah Hartenstein is, and he has helped the Thunder withstand Chet Holmgren's significant hip injury with his stout rim protection.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's bench lineups have often been thoroughly outplayed in recent weeks, and Oklahoma City's outstanding second unit will be in good position to extend any lead the team's stars are able to establish early in the game.
Oklahoma City's primary unit getting off to a good start is a safe bet, of course, because of the presence of MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one of the most consistently dominant perimeter scorers in recent NBA history who has every answer in the book for any defensive coverage he is shown. Gilgeous-Alexander is as good as it gets as a primary ball-handler -- and also plays a real role in the Thunder's defensive dominance.
Frankly, the biggest question in this game is whether or not the Sixers will actually go full-throttle in an attempt to knock off the Thunder. With a team the Sixers have plenty of history with coming into town the next day -- and, as far as anyone can tell, Embiid only being available for this game or the next one -- might the team just load up for Wednesday?
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Crazier things have happened, but it is hard to imagine Embiid and the Sixers not doing everything in their power to beat the Knicks, who have sputtered a bit as of late but are still an offensive powerhouse behind superstar point guard Jalen Brunson and new addition Karl-Anthony Towns.
While New York has very shaky depth, its starting lineup -- bookended by Brunson and Towns, with Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart in between -- has played more than 200 minutes more than any other five-man unit in the NBA this season. It has everything a coach could ask for on the offensive end of the floor, from an elite engine in Brunson to one of the best floor speakers ever in Towns to three wings in between them who are effective three-point shooters and provide secondary scoring or creation.
The Bridges-Anunoby-Hart trio gives the Knicks a baseline defensive structure built around perimeter versatility, but Brunson is not a strong defender and Towns has always struggled to protect the rim. New York's defense is exploitable, and if the Sixers want to beat them on Wednesday -- or in a rematch of last year's epic playoff series, which the Knicks won after six extremely close battles -- they will have to identify and exploit New York's weak links on that end of the floor.
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