Philadelphia 76ers plan to have Joel Embiid to face Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

PHILADELPHIA – National Basketball Association (NBA) fans will get an early Christmas present of sorts when Victor Wembanyama and the surging San Antonio Spurs head to Philadelphia to face Joel Embiid, Paul George and the 76ers on Dec 23 (Dec 24, Singapore time).

Embiid, who is in recovery mode with a broken sinus cavity, is expected to start despite sitting out the 76ers’ game at the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec 21.

The Spurs have won two straight games and four of their past five, including a 114-94 victory at home over the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec 21. Wembanyama racked up 30 points and 10 blocks in the win, becoming the first player since 2008 to achieve that feat and sixth overall.

Wembanyama was 10 of 11 from the free-throw line, tying his season high for made shots from the charity stripe.

“(Wembanyama) has been more patient when he catches the ball, especially when he’s not being guarded by the traditional five men with the size,” San Antonio acting coach Mitch Johnson said.

“He’s done a good job of just facing up and seeing when he has that one-on-one or space to continue to push through that initial contact.

“He’s so long with those steps and his strides, he gets to that rim and it’s hard to not have more than incidental contact.”

Charles Bassey tied a career high with 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Spurs in the victory. San Antonio have won all four games in which they have held opponents below 100 points.

The Spurs had their projected starting line-up on the court at tip-off for just the second time this season.

“We want to give the line-ups a chance to continue to grow and gain some continuity,” Johnson said. “Don’t want to overreact to anything off of a few games, good or bad, but I think a lot of things we have seen so far we’ve liked.”

The Dec 23 game is the first of a four-game road trip for San Antonio, who are 4-6 away from home this season. The Spurs will play 11 of their next 15 games on the road.

The 76ers head home after losing 126-99 at Cleveland in the second game of a home-road back-to-back. Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 27 points in a game that the 76ers trailed by 11 at the half and by 23 heading to the final period.

The setback snapped Philadelphia’s two-game winning streak. Six of the 76ers’ nine wins this season have come since Nov 30, as Embiid and George have begun to play together more. Embiid was held out of the Dec 21 game because of the back-to-back, but George played and scored 11 points in his first availability in a back-to-back in 2024.

“(The loss to Cleveland) was a tough one, but move on from it and get ready for San Antonio,” George said. “They’ve been playing well, so that’d be a good challenge for us. Obviously, (we hope to have Embiid) back out there. So again, now we’re gaining good momentum with that unit.”

The most recent time Embiid played against Wembanyama and the Spurs – last season on Jan 22 – he scored a career-high 70 points. REUTERS