The Sixers (15-8) are hosting the Wizards, who haven't won a game in Philadelphia since the 2015-16 season, tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Wizards will be without their starting center Dwight Howard (gluteal injury). Thomas Bryant, who recorded his first career start on Nov. 20, will start in his place.
Here are the essentials for tonight's matchup:
When: 7 p.m. ET with Sixers Pregame Live at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
And here are three storylines to watch for tonight's game.
Guarding against 5-out
A big focus at Thursday's practice was on the Sixers' defensive rotations against 5-out offensive sets, And not just because this was something they struggled with against the Celtics in the playoff but also because it's something they expect to see tonight.
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The basics of a 5-out offense are that all players are spread along the three-point from corner to corner. It's still early in the season but tonight will be a good test for how far the Sixers have come since the end of last season in defending a type of offense that gave them a lot of postseason troubles.
Pace, pace, pace!
The Sixers and Wizards run the NBA's sixth and seventh highest-paced offense, respectively. As we saw against the Knicks on Wednesday night, this Sixers team is effective in transition with Ben Simmons leading the way. But so are the Wizards, who are led by John Wall. Points in transitions should be high for both teams.
Battle at the line …
Despite being fast teams, these two squads both know how to slow it down. The Sixers are second in the NBA in free throws attempted per game (28.9), and the Wizards are tied for fourth (27.3). Wall is tied for fifth amongst guards at getting to the line (6.3 per game). Jimmy Butler isn't too far behind at 5.4, but it's Joel Embiid who leads the way amongst all NBA players (10.6). If this game is close in the fourth, I expect a battle at the line.
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