Fresh off their largest margin of victory on the season, the New York Knicks head to Wells Fargo Center for a Wednesday evening matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be the first time that the two teams have squared up this season.
New York is winners of two of their last three after Monday’s convincing win over the Cleveland Cavaliers by the score of 123-105. One of the keys to the victory was taking care of the ball as they recorded only seven turnovers. Julius Randle led the way with a season-high 30 points, and Marcus Morris Sr. chipped in with 23.
The 76ers last played on Sunday, also defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 114-95 final, which ended a mini two-game losing streak. Philadelphia faced little resistance while on offense as they shot 54.8 percent from the field. Tobias Harris led the way with 24 points on a very tidy 12-14 from the field.
Records
Knicks: 4-10, 1-6 on road, 14th in Eastern Conference
76ers: 8-5, 4-0 at home, 5th in Eastern Conference
Team injuries
Knicks: Out - Elfrid Payton (hamstring), Reggie Bullock (back), Probable - RJ Barrett (thumb)
76ers: None
Projected starters
Knicks: PG - Frank Ntilikina, SG - RJ Barrett, SF - Marcus Morris Sr., PF - Julius Randle, C - Taj Gibson
76ers: PG - Ben Simmons, SG - Josh Richardson, SF - Tobias Harris, PF - Al Horford, C - Joel Embiid
Team leaders
Knicks: Scoring - Marcus Morris Sr.
18.6, Rebounding - Julius Randle, Assists - Julius Randle 3.9, Steals - Frank Ntilikina 1.5, Blocks - Mitchell Robinson 1.9
76ers: Scoring - Joel Embiid 22.9, Rebounding - Joel Embiid 11.4, Assists - Ben Simmons 7.1, Steals - Ben Simmons 2.3, Blocks - Joel Embiid 1.4
Team rankings (out of 30 teams)
Knicks: Points - 101.8 (30th), Points allowed - 108.9 (13th)
76ers: Points - 109.8 (16th), Points allowed - 106.7 (11th)
Things to know heading into the game
The Knicks are still looking for their first two-game winning streak of the young season.
They nearly accomplished it last Saturday, but a Devonte’ Graham three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left gave the Charlotte Hornets a one-point victory over them.
Philadelphia is one of four teams (all in the Eastern Conference) remaining that have yet to lose on their home floor (4-0). They have played a road-heavy schedule to begin the season as nine of their first 13 outings have been played away from home.
If tonight’s game were to come down to free throws, neither one of these teams could be seen as being reliable to make them when needed. The Knicks rank dead last making 67.6 percent of their foul shots while the 76ers aren’t much better as their 73.1 percent mark from the charity stripe is currently sixth-worst in the league.