The Philadelphia 76ers (1-5) will try to close the 2016-2017 NBA Preseason Games on a high note as they clash with the Miami Heat (4-3) at the American Airlines Arena on Oct. 21, Friday.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
Similar to their regular season campaigns in recent years, the Sixers have a lackluster stint in this year's preseason as well. So far, the team only has one win in six games to boot as they are on a five-game losing streak since they won their season-opener over the Boston Celtics.
Philly continues to play without Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, two young big men who are currently sidelined by injuries and are rumored to be on the team's trading block at the moment. Okafor is expected to be ready by the team's regular season-opener next week, but Noel is not, and speculations abound that the latter could be traded soon.
Noel and Okafor are not the only young Sixers players who are presently injured as this year's no. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons is also still unavailable as he is still recuperating from a surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his right foot.
However, one good news for the Sixers is that Joel Embiid is finally ready to play in his first real NBA game as head coach Brett Brown prepared him by making him a starter throughout the preseason.
The squad's current weakness is their backcourt as the team failed to sign a big-name point guard this summer.
Meanwhile, the Heat are still in the process of adjusting to the changes in their lineup, particularly the departure of Dwyane Wade and the team's insistence on keeping Chris Bosh from playing.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra has now decided to rest new main men Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside in preparation for the regular season's opening next week.
Other than the said two players, Miami does not have that much star power now than in previous years so it is interesting to see how they will fare in the real games starting soon.
Prediction
Finally, a second win for the Sixers as Spoelstra will again rest his starters in this game.
