Philadelphia was undefeated in it's abbreviated preseason and opened the regular season with a 113-107 victory over the Washington Wizards. The 76ers looked strong in the paint as the All-Star Joel Embiid was the leading scorer for Philadelphia with 29 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds. Embiid came up big when it counted scoring 15 points in the decisive fourth quarter. Philadelphia is undefeated at home dating back to December 20th of 2019.
New York played well in the preseason winning three or four games, but opened the regular season with a 121-107 loss on the road against the Indiana Pacers. New York led Indiana in the first half 66-61 but was outscored by 19 points after the break. The young talented Knicks need time to come up to NBA-speed and become accustomed to one another as many new faces are on the roster. RJ Barrett was New York's leading scorer in the loss with 26 points.
Joel Embiid Leads Philly
Joel Embiid started off his 2020-21 NBA regular season in grand style scoring 29 points and pulling down 14 rebounds to lead Philadelphia in both categories. The 76ers’ center shot 58.8% and hit eight of his nine free-throw attempts. The second-leading scorer for Philadelphia in the opening game of the season was Shake Milton with 19 points. Ben Simmons, who along with Embiid were All-Stars last season, scored 16 points and handed out a team-high seven assists. Overall, Philadelphia shot 47.1% and 28.6% from long distance. The 76ers hit just eight of their 28 times from beyond the three-point arc.
Philadelphia had 47 rebounds including 10 off the offensive glass, handed out 22 assists and turned the ball over 15 times. On defense, the 76ers made 11 steals and blocked eight shots
Injury Report: Philadelphia does not have any players listed on its injury report
Knicks must improve shooting
Although RJ Barrett had an excellent night for New York in it's opening night loss to Indiana, scoring 26 points while going 8-for-8 in the first half and finishing the game 11-for-15 or 73.3%, the rest of the Knicks did not shoot as well. Julius Randle hit seven of 15 field goals, Reggie Bullock hit 4 of 10, and rookie Obi Toppin, in his debut, made just three of his 12 shots.
The leading rebounder for New York after one game is Randall with nine and the power forward for the Knicks is also the team leader in assists with nine. Alec Burks was New York’s second-leading scorer with 22 points. Overall the Knicks had 40 rebounds but just five were off the offensive glass which limited New York's second look opportunities. New York had eight steals, eight blocked shots and committed 16 turnovers.
Injury Report: Immanuel Quickley, Austin Rivers and Omari Spellman are all questionable for New York.
Notable Trends
- New York is 2-4 ATS in the last six played during December
- Philadelphia is 11-5 ATS in the last 16 versus New York
