SAN ANTONIO – The worst team in the NBA will try to gain some traction against one of the best when the Philadelphia 76ers host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.
San Antonio’s latest winning streak hit three straight in the 108-105 win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday, which snapped an eight-game string of holding their opponents under 100 points.
Recommended Videos
76ers head coach Brett Brown has a better picture than most of how things work on the Spurs from his years as one of the team’s top assistants, and Philadelphia battled into the fourth quarter before suffering a 92-83 loss at San Antonio on Nov. 14.
The 76ers (1-20) gained their first win last week and nearly picked off the Denver Nuggets before falling 108-105 on Saturday.
Philadelphia held a fourth-quarter lead on Saturday and regularly challenges down to the final minutes without coming out on top.
“I thought we did a good job offensively for the large majority of the game,” Brown told reporters. “We shot 50 percent, had a lot of turnovers, and shared the ball. I just felt like when it gets down to that (fourth) period, and the defense heats up, our team isn’t designed to create its own shots.”
TV: 6 p.m. CT, FSN Southwest
ABOUT THE SPURS (17-4): San Antonio leaned on its depth to beat the Celtics on Saturday and watched the bench total 54 points.
“I just think we’re just trying to be productive,” reserve forward David West told reporters. “Guys are trying to find their rhythm. When you have opportunities, you just try to be productive.”
The bench helped the Spurs overcome a rare high-scoring affair, and the team still leads the NBA in opponents scoring, allowing an average of 89.3 points.
San Antonio Spurs Wins/Losses vs. Teams Over/Under .500 | PointAfter
ABOUT THE 76ERS (1-20): Philadelphia may have found its go-to scorer for late in games when Tony Wroten returned from a torn ACL on Saturday. The 22-year-old guard scored four points in 13 minutes off the bench and will work his way back into big minutes slowly.
“You can see he adds a burst to our program,” Brown told reporters. You can see that he was rusty, as he should be after not playing for (10) months. We used up our minutes in the period of time that we were allotted, and I thought he was good.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs have taken nine straight in the series.
2. Philadelphia C Jahlil Okafor is set to return from his two-game suspension on Monday.
3. San Antonio leading scorer Kawhi Leonard (21.6) sat out the Nov. 14 meeting.