The full-strength Sixers are at home to face the Spurs

The final weekend of Sixers basketball went as we would have expected. With all three stars available on Friday, Philadelphia took care of Charlotte without much trouble for about the 18th time this season. Then, while Embiid sat as the Sixers went on the road to Cleveland the second night of a back-to-back, NBA-best Cavaliers Nick Nurse’s team gave the business in a loss to Philadelphia.

The Sixers are now 9-17, which, yes, still isn’t great, but it’s a lot better than where they were. Philadelphia is at least starting to creep into Play-In Tournament territory, and the team’s record is pretty respectable when at least two members of the newly assembled Big 3 unite on any given night.

So now it’s time for a reset as the Sixers return home for tonight’s meeting with San Antonio. Spurs have a completely clean injury report (must be nice). For the Sixers, Joel Embiid is listed as available. Jared McCain is obviously out, as is Eric Gordon out due to oral surgery, while Ricky Council IV is listed as questionable due to right knee soreness.

Tonight’s game against San Antonio is certainly one of those who had put a circle around the calendar. (That is, if people still used calendars. Set an alarm in their calendar app on their iPhone?) The last time Joel Embiid and Victor Wembanyama met on the court, Team USA defeated Team France in the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics (sorry, Guerschon). . More relevant to tonight’s proceedings, the last time they met on an NBA court, Embiid poured in a career-high 70 points in the Sixers’ 133-123 win over San Antonio back in January. Joel’s latest knee injury situation all started later that month, so the 70 against Spurs is a bit of our last pure moment of his greatness to date.

While Embiid’s career prospects have grown bleaker in recent months, Wembanyama’s is on a rocket ship to the stars. I could throw any number of stats at you, but how about repeating his stat line from the Spurs’ last game, a win over Portland: 30 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 10(!) blocks. Elite company here:

The young man is a complete game changer as a rim-protecting presence, and take a look at the versatility he brings to the offensive end:

It is a very real possibility that we are looking at the emergence of a player who will own this league one day. It’s a lot of fun to watch the improved roster around Wembanyama this season as the 15-13 Spurs remain on top of things in the highly competitive Western Conference. Getting Chris Paul as a stabilizing presence to set up the offense was such a nice bit of free agency by San Antonio. It was also smart to sign Harrison Barnes for nothing when the Kings were looking to free up cap space to sign DeMar DeRozan. Number four overall pick Stephon Castle also looks like a hit, currently averaging 11.4 points and 3.9 assists as a part-time starter.

Embiid vs. Wemby is the headliner, but this is also a good test for this Sixers group trying to regroup and regroup on the fly. The Sixers are still looking for their first win of the season over a Western Conference opponent, and the Spurs aren’t the Thunder, but they’re a really solid team. This would be a quality win for Philadelphia.

No easy transition to this, but I’ll close by saying best wishes to Gregg Popovich, who is still sidelined as he recovers from a stroke he suffered last month. Good news that Pop is expected to make a full recovery.

Anyway, tonight was supposed to be fun. Let’s hope the Sixers lock in and get their 10th win of the season.

Game details

WHO: Philadelphia 76ers vs. San Antonio Spurs
When: 7 p.m. ET
Where: The Center, Philadelphia, PA
Clock: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA TV
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers