By Jawn Kruk| October 22, 2006
Spoiling the Knicks’ celebration was a beautiful way to start a season. Now let’s give our own crowd something to lose its damn mind over.
The Sixers welcome Cleveland tonight, Thursday, October 22, at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Coverage is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN. Home opener. National television. Philly should be LOUD.
LeBron James and Jaylen Brown get their first regular-season home appearance as Sixers, joining Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe. Cleveland counters with a projected starting group featuring James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley and, if his questionable knee allows it, Jarrett Allen. That’s a pretty serious welcome home assignment.
The names on Philly’s roster are exciting. But I want to see possessions that look like a basketball team playing together. Move it, cut, attack the paint and make Cleveland defend more than one action. Everybody standing around watching somebody dribble is how you turn a fired-up crowd into people checking the Flyers score.
THREE THINGS TO LOOK FOR
1. Make Cleveland’s guards work both ways.
Mitchell and Harden can punish lazy defense. Philly has to communicate through screens and recover without handing out open threes like free samples at Costco. On the other end, I want Maxey attacking early and forcing those guys to spend some energy defending. Make them earn their dinner.
2. Get the damn rebound.
Cleveland’s size makes this a major test, particularly if Allen plays alongside Mobley. Embiid needs help from the wings: find a body, box out and finish the possession. Watching four guys admire a missed shot while the other team grabs it is going to have me yelling at the television before halftime. Allen was listed as questionable in the available pregame report.
3. Who settles things when the game gets tight?
My focus is the late-game balance between Maxey, LeBron, Brown and Embiid. Can they create a good shot without taking turns? I want quick decisions, purposeful movement and somebody attacking an advantage. With this much talent, “here, you figure it out” should not be the entire playbook.
DRAFTKINGS ODDS
These are the published odds in DraftKings Network’s matchup preview today:
|Market |Sixers |Cavaliers |
|———|———:|———-:|
|Spread |-2.5 |+2.5 |
|Moneyline|-142 |+120 |
|Total |Over 237.5|Under 237.5|
DraftKings’ other article today lists Sixers -3.5 and a 235.5 total, so these are published snapshots rather than a confirmed live quote. Check the app before placing anything.
MY CALL
I’m taking the Sixers to win a competitive home opener. Keep Cleveland’s guards out of a rhythm, finish defensive possessions and let Maxey push the pace when it’s there.
Franklin’s ready. The crowd will be ready. Give us four quarters worth making noise about.
Let’s go Sixers. Holla!
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