One team’s losing skid is certain to end this Wednesday as the struggling Philadelphia 76ers take on the slumping Golden State Warriors. Will the Sixers finally score their first win on the team’s current road trip? Or, will the Warriors hand Philly an L?

Catch this game live on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 11:00 AM, Manila time

Away: Philadelphia 76ers (29-16/12-10 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

• Tyrese Maxey  (DTD)
• Kelly Oubre Jr.
• Tobias Harris
• Nicolas Batum
• Joel Embiid  (DTD)

The Sixers will enter Wednesday’s meeting with Golden State looking to get out of a slump. They have lost all of their last three games, including last Tuesday’s embarrassing 130-104 loss to the lowly Portland Trail Blazers on the road. A big reason for Philly’s downfall of late is the absence of reigning MVP Joel Embiid, who has missed the last two outings. He remains day-to-day with left knee soreness, and if he and his doctors can’t find the courage to let him play through it, that means another opportunity for Paul Reed to start and shine. 

Reed has scored 41 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the last two Sixers games that Embiid was out. In the 111-105 road loss to the Denver Nuggets last Sunday, Reed held his own against Nikola Jokic and mustered 30 points and 13 boards. There is also a possibility that the Sixers will miss the services of Tyrese Maxey again due to a sprained ankle that also sidelined him for two consecutive games heading into the Golden State matchup. On the season, the Sixers are 12-10 against the spread in road games.

Home: Golden State Warriors (19-23/12-13 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

• Stephen Curry
• Klay Thompson
• Andrew Wiggins
• Jonathan Kuminga
• Draymond Green

Things have not been so good for the Warriors as well recently, as they are on a two-game losing skid. After losing to the Sacramento Kings at home last Friday, 134-133, Stephen Curry and company suffered a 145-144 double-overtime defeat at the hands of LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers — also in San Francisco — on Sunday. 

The silver lining for the Warriors is that they looked very competitive in those losses. Those are demoralizing defeats, but if there’s a team that can shrug off the pain of such setbacks, it’s the battle-hardened Warriors, who have won in eight of their last 10 home games versus the Sixers, dating back to 2014. The Warriors are also 6-4 against the spread in those contests. Golden State’s defense has been extra-leaky in the last two outings, but it should still be able to handle the Sixers if either Maxey or Embiid gets ruled out anew.

PREDICTIONS:

Spread: The Sixers (+4.5) cover the spread.

Over/Under: The total (235.0) hits the Over.