Philadelphia 76ers vs. Indiana Pacers Preview
The Philadelphia 76ers host the Indiana Pacers as they look to continue the climb through the Eastern Conference Standings.
The Sixers come into Wednesday's match off a close, 120-111, win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Joel Embiid, who on Tuesday was named the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the month for his efforts in December, put on a masterclass, scoring 42 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and five assists.
James Harden also made his presence felt as he dropped 27 points on 42 percent shooting, while also gifting eight assists to his teammates.
Although Embiid went off on Monday night, he won't be available on Wednesday night as the Sixers' center due to soreness in his left foot, making it his ninth absence of the season.
On the other side of the ticket sits the Indiana Pacers, who come into Wednesday night's match on a hot streak winning their last four matches, which sees them sitting two games behind Philadelphia in the eastern conference standings.
Their most recent victory came against the Toronto Raptors, which was in part due to an excellent performance from Bennedict Mathurin off the bench, scoring 21 points on 66 percent shooting.
Buddy Hield led the starters with 19 points with five rebounds and four assists, with several of his teammates hovering around the same scoreline.
The Pacers go into Wednesday's clash with only one injury to play around as Chris Duarte is listed as questionable with left ankle soreness. Duarte played 15 minutes against Toronto, going cold from the field, making his only points from the free throw line.
Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.
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