The Philadelphia 76ers, looking to bounce back from a loss without Joel Embiid, will try to start a new winning streak on Thursday night when they visit the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Embiid, dealing with a sore left foot, missed the 76ers’ game in Sacramento on Wednesday. His teammates couldn’t hold on to a late nine-point lead, eventually losing 113-107 after failing to score in the final 3:34.
Interestingly, the 76ers also played on the second night of a back-to-back last January, losing 119-107 to the Warriors in San Francisco. Embiid sat out the night before in a 130-104 loss at Portland, and then scored 14 points in the game against the Warriors, but it wasn’t enough.
This time, the status of veteran Paul George is in question. He played 36 minutes and scored 30 points against the Kings, but he took a hard fall in the second quarter and had a heating pad on his back during a short break. Despite that, he returned to play later in the game.
Coach Nick Nurse has been impressed with how his team has stayed focused, even with injuries and challenges. “We’ve gone a long stretch where we are starting to take whatever has come,” Nurse said. “We are dealing with some foul trouble, and we just keep on rolling.
What I’m most happy with is that we’re starting to get a defensive mentality to us. And that can take you a long ways.”
For the Warriors, the last thing they need is a strong defensive effort from the 76ers. Golden State has been struggling offensively, failing to score 100 points in six of their last 12 games. After starting the season 12-3, the Warriors have won only four of their last 17 games.
“We’re kind of in a rut right now,” said coach Steve Kerr. “We haven’t made shots now for a while. It feels like it should turn, but we have to try to find a way to help develop the rhythm with passing, with movement, with spacing to generate better shots.”
The Warriors are coming off an 18-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. Stephen Curry shot just 4-for-14, finishing with 11 points, while Draymond Green missed 9 of his 10 shots, contributing just two points. As a team, the Warriors shot only 33.3% from the field.
One bright spot for the Warriors has been Jonathan Kuminga. He scored 34 points in back-to-back games before adding 18 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double effort against the Cavaliers.
Last season, the Warriors swept the two-game series against the 76ers. They won by 12 points in January at home and followed that up with a 127-104 victory in Philadelphia, a game in which Embiid was absent due to a left knee injury.
