Blazers Anticipate Tougher Matchup vs. Sixers With Ben Simmons Back

Last Thursday night, the Portland Trail Blazers traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Sixers for the first time this season. As Portland was missing three key players in Jusuf Nurkic, CJ McCollum, and Damian Lillard, many expected the 76ers to steamroll their shorthanded opponent.

But the opposite happened. Portland proved that on any given night, any team could win. With that, the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded 76ers fell short to Portland at home as the Blazers defeated them 121-105. While Portland was certainly shorthanded, the Sixers weren’t exactly fully healthy themselves.

Ben Simmons, who was probable with a calf injury, was ruled out hours before tip-off. Seth Curry, who has been dealing with some rough aftereffects of COVID-19, didn’t feel well. Therefore, he was taken out of the game after playing just 12 minutes.

The Sixers acknowledged how much the absence of Simmons and Curry, for the most part, affected their game against Portland, but they didn’t want to make excuses or take anything away from the Blazers last Thursday.

Instead, they looked forward and picked up two-straight wins over the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings before traveling to Portland for round two on Thursday night. As the Sixers expect both Simmons and Curry to be available against the Blazers this time around, Portland’s head coach Terry Stotts understands his team isn’t guaranteed the same results as last week. 

“I expect that they’ll have [last week’s game] fresh on their minds that they let one get away at home,” Stotts said on Wednesday. “I would expect them to come and play an impactful game.” The Blazers know they will already have their hands full with Joel Embiid, who scored 37 points against them last week.

Now, Stotts believes that Ben Simmons’ presence will make a significant difference. “[Ben Simmons] is an important part of their team, obviously. We went into that game, preparing for him to play. He was a late-minute scratch. We did have a gameplan for the event that he did play, so we’ll refer to that… They are a different team with Simmons. I don’t know if they’ll rely on Embiid quite as much [on Thursday].”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_