Game Preview: Knicks v 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers make the short trek to the Big Apple to take on the New
York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening. The Sixers (22-35)
jettisoned two important frontcourt pieces in Nerlens Noel and Ersan Ilyasova at
the trade deadline, but didn’t seem fazed whatsover while posting an impressive
120-112 road victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. Robert
Covington paced Philadelphia with 25 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and four
steals. Dario Saric, playing his first game as the long-term starting power
forward, turned in a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Gerald Henderson
matched Saric’s scoring tally and added five boards. Richaun Holmes, seeing an
expanded role off the bench with the departures of Noel and Ilyasova, supplied
12 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, five blocks and two steals. Jahlik Okafor
and Nik Stauskas produced matching 11-point efforts, with the former adding two
rebounds and two assists, and the latter registering three boards, one assist
and one block. T.J. McConnell amassed 10 points, eight assists, four rebounds,
two steals and one block. The Sixers will be without Joel Embiid (knee) for
Saturday’s game. They also recently announced that first-round pick Ben Simmons
will miss the rest of the season with his foot injury. The Knicks (23-35) drew
the short straw coming out of the All-Star break in the form of the Cleveland
Cavaliers, which they fell to by a 119-104 score on Thursday evening. New York
has dropped six of their last seven contests overall, and they fell victim to
LeBron James’ 48th career triple-double in the defeat. Courtney Lee paced the
Knicks with 25 points, six rebounds, five assists and one steal. Carmelo Anthony
managed 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. Derrick Rose tallied 13
points, four assists and two rebounds. Willy Hernangomez, starting in place of
Joakim Noah (hamstring) posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double that also
included four assists and two blocks. Lance Thomas led the second unit with nine
points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. The Knicks will be
without Kristaps Porzingis for Saturday, as he exited Thursday’s game with a
sprained ankle. Meanwhile, Noah is likely to be listed as questionable at best
with his aforementioned hamstring ailment. Saturday’s game will mark the second
of four meetings this season between the teams. The Sixers nipped the Knicks by
a 98-97 score on Jan. 11 courtesy of a McConnell jumper at the buzzer.