Winners of four consecutive home games, the 76ers (16-12) host the Toronto Raptors (13-17) for their next game on Monday night.
The Sixers have won seven of their last 10 games, and are 10-1 in their last 11 home contests. Since the 2018-19 season, the Sixers have the second-best winning percentage at home at .745 (126-43), per Stathead. The Raptors, meanwhile, have dropped five straight games and hold a 3-12 road record this season.
Monday will be the second half of a home-road back-to-back for Toronto, after losing to the Sixers’ previous opponent, Golden State, by 16 at home on Sunday night. The Sixers defeated the Warriors on Friday, 118-106, behind 61 combined points from Joel Embiid (34) and James Harden (27).
Precious Achiuwa (ankle), O.G. Anunoby (hip), Otto Porter Jr. (toe), and Gary Trent Jr. (quad) all missed Sunday’s game for the Raptors. Pascal Siakam had 27 points and Fred VanVleet added 22 points during a loss that saw Golden State’s Jordan Poole put up a career-high 43 points.
Tyrese Maxey (foot) remains out for the Sixers, while Furkan Korkmaz (non-COVID illness) was listed as questionable on the injury report entering gameday morning. Tobias Harris, who missed the last game due to back pain, was not listed.
Embiid currently leads the NBA in scoring at 33.3 points per game, on top of 9.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.6 blocks, and 1.2 steals. Harden averages 22.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 10.6 assists.
“James is an elite passer,” 76ers Head Coach Doc Rivers said postgame on Friday. “[Everyone] forgets how good James is sometimes. We want him to be a facilitator and scorer, more of both here. We forget this guy is one of the greatest players to ever play. And to do that with the ball, he’s had to be a great passer and he's doing that. And now he's in a role of doing that, and he's actually enjoying it. It’s pretty cool.”
The Sixers currently rank third in the NBA in 3-point percentage (.387), while the Raptors sit near the bottom of the league (No. 28) at 32.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
It will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with each taking a game in Toronto in October. Maxey scored a career-high 44 points with nine 3-pointers in the Sixers’ win on Oct. 28.
With the Sixers on this four-game winning streak, Danuel House Jr. spoke about team chemistry following practice on Sunday:
“That brotherly support,” House Jr. said. “We're all doing a good job of leaning on one another and helping one another... It's just about teamwork. We're here to make each other better. It's more than basketball. That's my brother. It's off the court, too. We sit down and meditate – everyone on the team. We're close as a group. It's only going to get better. Like I said, it's a gumbo pot. The longer you let the season sit, the better the gumbo hit.”
Monday is a 7:00 p.m. ET start in South Philadelphia.
When We Last Saw Them…
Joel Embiid
James Harden
De’Anthony Melton
Shake Milton/Georges Niang
76ers vs. Golden State Warriors: Dec. 16, 2022
1 / 5PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 16: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots the ball during the game against the Golden State Warriors at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
@Sixers Social:
Quote to Note:
Georges Niang on the support the team receives from Tyrese Maxey, who has been out with a foot injury since mid-November:
“He gets his work in two hours before practice so that he can sit and watch practice. And I think that just speaks volumes to who he is and what he stands for, that he doesn't want to miss anything that involves the team. He's going to do his conditioning and work before practice so that he can be with us during practice so he doesn't really miss a beat on anything, which is going to be huge.”