The Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers will try to turn things around when they face each other Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz defeated a Joel Embiid-less Sixers squad on the road, 120-109, on Jan. 6 thanks to double-doubles from Lauri Markkanen (33 points, 13 rebounds) and Collin Sexton (22 points, 10 assists).
Embiid will sidelined Thursday, according to an ESPN report Wednesday night, and was expected to undergo an MRI on his left knee after suffering an injury late in Tuesday’s 119-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Embiid’s knee was hurt when it was inadvertently fallen on by the Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga after the Sixers star fell to the court with four minutes remaining.
A six-time All-Star center and the 2022-23 Most Valuable Player, Embiid leads the league with a 35.3 scoring average and also averages 11.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and a career-high 5.7 assists.
This will be the fifth and final game of a lengthy road trip for Philadelphia, which comes in on a four-game losing streak following losses at Indiana, Denver, Portland and Golden State.
Philadelphia has played the past three games without Tyrese Maxey, who’s been sidelined with a sprained left ankle, and Nicolas Batum was held out Tuesday with left hamstring tightness for precautionary purposes.
The Jazz aren’t dealing with any major injuries, but they have come back to earth since they were the hottest team in the NBA during a stretch in December and January.
Utah, which won 12 of 14 games from Dec. 21-Jan. 15, has lost five of its past seven. The Jazz beat only the lowly Wizards and Hornets during their just-concluded six-game Eastern road trip.
Utah comes into this matchup having lost back-to-back games in New York against the Brooklyn Nets (147-114) and Knicks (118-103).
The Jazz trailed 61-60 in the third quarter against New York after a Sexton 3-pointer, but the Knicks then went on a 30-6 run to blow the game open.
Hardy self-deprecatingly told reporters, “I hate myself right now.” But the losses and execution flaws are weighing on him.
Hardy believes his team needs to work out some kinks in a non-game setting..
