Can the Sixers earn their first winning streak of the season tonight against the Knicks?

Joel Embiid is expected to return because no one wants to miss NBA Cup action.

What a difference a game makes. After blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Charlotte Hornets Sunday night, the Philadelphia 76ers were staring down the barrel of a 1-8 start to the regular season, which would have put them solely in last place in the entire NBA. Instead, thanks largely to the efforts of precocious rookie Jared McCain, the Sixers pulled out the tight victory in overtime over Charlotte for their second win of the season. Now, should barely beating the rebuilding Hornets to move to 2-7 be cause for a huge celebration? No. But it sure beats the alternative.

Another reason for positivity today is the expected return of Joel Hans Embiid, who has finished up a three-game suspension after definitely being ready to return to action last week (the convenient timing was purely coincidental, I assure you). Obviously, the return of the former MVP will be huge for the Sixers, especially considering Andre Drummond has struggled out of the gate and thus far failed to be the highly competent innings eater many fans anticipated. Embiid’s conditioning will definitely be something to watch. He usually needs a few games to get acclimated even under the best of times, and now we’re coming off a period where he hasn’t played any sort of organized game since the Olympics during the summer. We’ll also be keeping an eye on how much he trusts that knee. Will the burst be there on plays like his pump fake and go from the nail? We probably shouldn’t expect a vintage Joel performance regardless.

Tonight will be the first time the Sixers face the New York Knicks since last spring’s highly competitive first-round series, which the Knickerbockers won in six games. Since then, New York lost Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency, traded a boatload of draft assets to Brooklyn for Mikal Bridges, and made a huge out-of-nowhere deal to send Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns.

With a 4-5 record on the season, it’s too early to make any proclamations about the Knicks’ changes, but you can see some encouraging signs from their perspective. Towns has been lighting it up, averaging 24.9 points per game (a hair below Jalen Brunson’s team-best 25.0 mark) and shooting a scorching 53.7 percent from three. You can definitely see the vision for a flamethrower five-out offense. Deuce McBride has also capably stepped up into that vacated sixth man role.

It’s also the start of the NBA Cup tonight, with the Sixers and Knicks doing battle in East Group A action. I’m sure that fact and tonight being nationally televised had absolutely nothing to do with the NBA’s determination of how long it should suspend Embiid. Other East Group A games for the Sixers will be in Orlando later this week, and then later on a game against Brooklyn and a contest in Charlotte. I personally like the look of this year’s court in Philadelphia.

Embiid will be the main thing to watch, of course. He should eat Towns alive, per usual, and the Knicks are razor thin in the frontcourt with injuries to Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa. How will Jared McCain follow up the best performance of his young career? Will we get to see a lot more of Guerschon Yabusele at the four with Embiid back and what does that look like? How does Kelly Oubre do in his defensive matchup against Jalen Brunson and how much grifting do the refs allow the Nova product? I don’t know the answer to all these yet, but it should be worth watching to find out.

Game Details

Who: Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: The Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: TNT
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers