Wembanyama and Embiid Face Off as Spurs Host Sixers

SAN ANTONIO - Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs will start the final week of the regular season with a battle against a dangerous Eastern Conference foe and one of the best big men in the game.

Joel Embiid and the 76ers are visiting San Antonio, and they're much healthier than they were when these teams faced off in Philadelphia a month ago. The Spurs flat out dominated that game, winning by 40 points on a day where Embiid was out and Paul George was serving a suspension.

Wembanyama scored 10 points in that game, but he only needed to play 24 minutes in the blowout. He completely dominated the other side of the ball, notching 3 steals and 6 blocks as Philadelphia couldn't find a way to score. San Antonio won his minutes by 41 points.

As impressive as that game was for Wembanyama and San Antonio, the tape won't be applicable to Monday evening's rematch. George is back, and averaging almost 26 points per game while hitting over 44% from 3 in six games since he returned.

Philadelphia's roster has a lot of similarities with San Antonio, and that should make for a fascinating battle. The starting backcourt on both sides features an All-Star and a rising star. VJ Edgecombe is averaging 16 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4 assists in an impressive rookie season, and Tyrese Maxey has been dealing with a finger issue but is listed as available.

"He's one of those guys when you watch him play, he just plays with a certain level of competitiveness and joy in terms of, seems like he likes competing," Mitch Johnson said before the game. "He and Maxey share that sentiment from afar, from my perspective, and to have that and two young men for a franchise with that amount of talent, and it feels like character. I say 'feels like' just because I haven't been around them a ton, but I've heard a lot about both. That's a really, really good source of your main characters involved in your program."

It should be interesting to see what defensive matchups Mitch Johnson goes with. Stephon Castle is one of the league's best point of attack defenders, and with excellent positional size he'll be able to check George or Maxey.

The biggest matchup, though, will be between the former MVP and the aspiring one. Two years ago, Embiid dropped 70 points against San Antonio in Wembanyama's rookie year. Wemby is stronger than he was back then, and he's coming off an epic duel against the best offensive center in the game.

"When you play someone of that caliber, Embiid or Jokic, you don't get that often, so you're probably still on pretty high alert," Johnson said pregame.

"All games and circumstances and personalities of every game provide great opportunities," Johnson said. "This league is the best in the world, in my opinion. And so regardless of who you're facing that night, you're going to see something that will test you. And obviously this team tonight, the 76ers are playing really good basketball, and they're healthy, and have a really, really talented team that's going to be able to test our defense in a variety of ways at all different levels and different personnel."

The Sixers are 8-4 in their last dozen games, and there's a lot at stake for them in the final week of the season as they sit right at the sixth seed with no wiggle room. If they slip in the standings, they could go from a guaranteed playoff spot to a play-in game. The Spurs still have an outside chance at stealing the one seed from the Thunder, but they'll need a lot of help from OKC after the overtime loss in Denver.

WHO:

Philadelphia 76ers, (43-35, L1)
San Antonio Spurs (59-19, L1)

WHEN:

Monday, April 6 (Tipoff 7 p.m. Central)

WHERE:

Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas

HOW TO WATCH:

FanDuel Sports Network

INJURY REPORT:

PHI:

Tyrese Maxey (right finger tendon strain) - AVAILABLE
Cameron Payne (right hamstring strain) - OUT
Johni Broome (right knee surgery) - OUT

SAS:

Harrison Ingram (two-way) - OUT
David Jones Garcia (ankle) - OUT
Emanuel Miller (two-way) - OUT