CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers will play host to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday in the 7 vs. 8 play-in tournament game. The Sixers will be looking to clinch their spot to the playoffs and advance as the No. 7 seed to then take on the Boston Celtics in Round 1 of the playoffs. If the Sixers lose, they will have to host the winner of the 9 vs. 10 matchup to decide their season.
The Sixers took two of the three matchups with the Magic on the regular season, and Orlando is coming into this one a bit off after an embarrassing loss in the season finale to Boston’s third stringers, but the postseason is always a different beast. Therefore, Philadelphia will have to prepare for what Orlando brings to the table.
On a practice day on Tuesday, there were three aspects about the Magic that coach Nick Nurse addressed heading into this contest:
3-guard lineups
The Magic don’t have a huge sample size with Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black, and Desmond Bane all on the floor together due to a variety of injuries, but those three represent Orlando’s best units. Per Cleaning the Glass, with those three on the floor, the Magic outscore teams by 13.9 points in 667 possessions. For the Sixers, when they went to lineups with Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes, they outscore teams by 6.9 points in 1,115 possessions per Cleaning the Glass. Those 3-guard lineups by both teams are something the Sixers and the Magic will turn to in this matchup.
“All six of the guys, I think, are really good players,” Nurse said after practice. “Black had a really great year going until his injury; he’s had a real step up in play. So I think all six of those guys are very good, which is probably why both teams end up with (those) lineups.”
Keeping Paolo Banchero off the free-throw line
Banchero isn’t the most efficient player in the world, but he can get to the foul line when he puts head down and attacks. He averages 8.2 free-throw attempts per game and will put pressure on the rim whenever he can. He shot 11 free throws in an Oct. 27 matchup between these teams and the Sixers will have to find a way to slow him down and force him into jumpers. He shoots 45.9% from the floor and overall and 30.5% from deep. If the Sixers can force Banchero into a jump shooter, the Sixers should win the game rather easily.
Nurse on slowing Banchero:
“He is physical. He gets a lot done with his strength and size, just carving space, attacking with his shoulder hits and things like that. You’ve got to stand in there and be able to use your own physicality. We’ve got to have multiple coverages ready for him. I think showing him multiple bodies, especially in certain matchups, will be important for us. And even going as far as having three or different schemes and three or four different guys that’ll guard him. I think trying to keep him off balance with some of that stuff is important, too. But a lot of it’s just going to come down to somebody standing in there and using their force against his.”
The Magic center rotation
The Magic will turn to Wendell Carter Jr. at the center spot to give them some production in a number of areas. He averages 2.1 offensive rebounds per game so the Sixers will have to be aware of that and he can knock down a corner 3-pointer. Behind him is Goga Bitadze who is a physical, defensive-minded big man, and also a terrific passer, before Moe Wagner can step in and cause havoc. With the Sixers missing Joel Embiid, more responsibility is placed upon Adem Bona and Andre Drummond.
“I think both of those guys are good players,” Nurse said of Orlando’s centers. “Carter’s a roller, short-pocket guy. He’s athletic, a rebounder. They’ll also park him on the perimeter in the corners. Good shooter. They’ll play through Bitadze a little bit more in some of their trail actions, cutting and things like that. Very good passer. Also a very good offensive rebounder. I think there’s probably some of the matchups we like better, but I think it’s probably a read of how things are going. I’ll say it again: We’re going to play Drum, we’re going to play Bona and we’ve got to figure out what it looks like as the game is going on.”
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Nick Nurse addresses 3 key aspects for Sixers vs. Magic play-in game
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