The Sixer Sense
Fansided

Sixers Look For Win In Even Matchup Against Trail Blazers

By Josh Wilson

Jan 10, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) celebrates after hitting a three point shot during the fourth quarter of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Blazers won the game 115-110. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) celebrates after hitting a three point shot during the fourth quarter of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Blazers won the game 115-110. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Philadelphia 76ers look to close out a hone-stand with a win on Saturday night against the Portland Trailblazers.

The Philadelphia 76ers have dropped four games in a row, despite being on the longest home-stand that this season will bring to them. They close out the six game home-stand against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, and look to take advantage of a team that is arguably evenly matched with them.

The Sixers haven’t had much to look forward to, facing the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Chicago Bulls, all playoff-contending teams in the Eastern Conference in the past few games. They have fared well against these teams, despite some injury setbacks against the Bulls. They let Jimmy Butler put up over 50 points on them, but took the Bulls to overtime and nearly snuck away with a win.

The Blazers have a roster that’s similar to the Sixers. Both teams have starters that can be recognized as threats to opponents, but once the bench is looked at, there’s not much that’s all that intimidating. In addition to this, both teams are young. The Blazers are the third youngest, and the Sixers are the youngest, even with added veteran Elton Brand.

More from The Sixer Sense

The Blazers, who are the fifth tallest team in the NBA, are third in made 3-pointers per game this year, and eighth in made 3-point percentage. That’s Sixers certainly have not been great guarding the perimeter, giving up the 10th worst 3-point percentage.

The Sixers haven’t seen much of rookie big-man Richaun Holmes in the past few games. The Bolwing Green product has played a combined 2 minutes and 50 seconds in the past three games, a strange coaching decision from Brett Brown since Holmes has put up some decent stats in the past several games.

We might expect to see Holmes sit this game as well, because it was expected that when he sat against the Cavaliers it was because of how bad of a rebounder he is. Since January 1st, Holmes hasn’t broken 10% in the ORB% category. The Blazers are 4th in the league in offensive rebounds per game, and fifth in the league in total rebounds per game. It would be smart to keep Holmes out of this one.

The backcourt is the most impressive part of the Blazers. Just about anyone who keeps track of the NBA knows Damian Lillard can be a statistical monster every night, averaging 25.0 points and 7.2 assists per game. C.J. McCollum isn’t bad either, averaging 20.6 points and 4.5 assists. Together, they account for 45.5 points and 11.6 assists per game.

Mason Plumlee is also a player to keep an eye on, averaging 9.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

After these three, and the rest of the starting five, there’s not many players that impress a whole lot, but of course, the same could be said about the 76ers.

The Blazers have been more impressive than we think though, as they’ve beaten some impressive, daunting opponents. Among their wins this season have been the Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Oklahoma City Thunder.

More 76ers: Trading Okafor Makes Sense

The Sixers do have the fact that Portland is on a back-to-back, coming off of a win against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. The Sixers do well with keeping the pace up, which could tire out Portland on the road and coming off of a game just the night before.

I think it’s a good matchup, and an even matchup. The Sixers have a shot, but I believe Dame and the Blazers will be able to overcome the Sixers, especially with them likely without both Jerami Grant and the streaking Nik Stauskas.