With five games remaining in the regular season, the 76ers (42-35) visit the Memphis Grizzlies (27-50) on Saturday night. The Sixers have won three straight games, including consecutive 109-105 victories over Oklahoma City and Miami with Joel Embiid back in the lineup.
The Sixers tied the season series with Miami, 2-2. The Heat are one game up on the Sixers, with the Indiana Pacers a half-game up on Miami for the No. 6 seed.
"I thought that we stood in there and we did it through a lot of intensity and pressure,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said postgame.
Philadelphia’s final road trip of the regular season ends on a back-to-back that takes them to San Antonio after Memphis. The Grizzlies face the second night of a back-to-back after defeating Detroit 108-90 at home on Friday night.
Memphis won the first of the two meetings with the Sixers this season, a 115-109 result in Philadelphia exactly one month ago to the day (March 6). A total of 13 players missed the game, including Embiid (left knee meniscus procedure) and Tyrese Maxey (concussion) for the Sixers.
The Grizzlies recorded 15 blocked shots, including six from Jaren Jackson Jr., who led all scorers with 30 points on top of 11 rebounds. Jake LaRavia notched a double-double with 19 points, a game-high 13 rebounds, and three blocks in 32 minutes off the bench. Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Sixers with 25 points.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK
The severely shorthanded Grizzlies (27-50) are 3-0 to begin April. On Friday night in Memphis, they picked up their second win over the Pistons during the current winning streak, 108-90. Seven of their eight available players scored at least 12 points.
Memphis recently defeated the Bucks, 111-101, on Wednesday in Milwaukee. Jaren Jackson Jr. - who did not play Friday - led all scorers with 35 points (14-26 fg, 2-7 3fg, 5-6 ft), as the Grizzlies posted a 76-36 advantage in points in the paint. They are 18-22 on the road and 9-28 at home this season.
76ERS-GRIZZLIES INJURY REPORT
The Grizzlies’ 12-man inactive list Friday against Detroit included Jaren Jackson Jr. (right quadriceps tendonitis). Ja Morant (right shoulder labral repair), Desmond Bane (lumbar disc bulge), and Marcus Smart (right ring finger; central slip tear) have all missed 30-plus games this season.
Memphis players have missed more than 500 combined games due to injury/illness, the most in the NBA. Thirty-one different players suiting up is an NBA record for a single season.
The Sixers, meanwhile, once again listed Joel Embiid (left knee injury recovery) as questionable on the injury report entering gameday morning. Tyrese Maxey (left hip tightness), Tobias Harris (left knee contusion), and Mo Bamba (illness) are also questionable. Robert Covington (left knee bone bruise) and De’Anthony Melton (back; lumbar spine bone stress) remain out Saturday.
THURSDAY’S TOP PERFORMANCES
Tyrese Maxey
- In 41 minutes of action, Maxey tallied a game-high 37 points (15-26 fg, 5-14 3fg, 2-2 ft), plus nine rebounds, a game-high 11 assists, one steal, and a block.
- Maxey’s 11 assists tied a career-high total (four times this season), while committing just one turnover. It was also his 14th game of the season with five-plus 3-pointers, the most such games in a single season in franchise history.
Joel Embiid
- During his second game back, Embiid posted 29 points (11-25 fg, 3-6 3fg, 4-5 ft), four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block in 33 minutes.
Kelly Oubre Jr.
- Matching Maxey with 41 minutes of work at Miami, Oubre Jr. delivered 18 points (8-14 fg, 2-6 3fg), eight rebounds, two steals, and a block.
QUOTE TO NOTE
Tyrese Maxey on the remaining schedule…
“Every game matters. Every game is a playoff game at this point. Honestly, we’re in like a March Madness situation. You know, every game is not an elimination game, but every game is important.”
FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday is an 8 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. local) start in Memphis.
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus
Listen: 97.5 The Fanatic
UNIFORMS
The Sixers will sport their royal blue “Icon Edition” uniforms and the Grizzlies will wear their white “Association Edition” threads.
@SIXERS SOCIAL