Road Warriors: Looking for brotherly love in Philly

The Road Warriors series will be highlighting the Indiana Pacers road trips and how they have fared historically in opposing arenas. This time, we have a short trip to Philly to break down.

“The East is in trouble now, boy” proclaimed Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner on Wednesday.

He felt confident enough to say this after a blowout win against the division-leading Milwaukee Bucks.  And why wouldn’t he? All-Star guard Victor Oladipo was effective in his limited return.  Thad Young had his best game in a Pacers uniform.  Turner himself had 23 points.  In total, there were six Pacers in double figures, three double-doubles, and they held the league’s highest-scoring offense under 100 points.  The win moved the Pacers to 18-10 on the year after their fifth straight win and propelled them into the home-court conversation.

According to Land of Basketball, this will be the 177th meeting in the regular season between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers.  The Sixers have a healthy lifetime lead at 98-78.  They also lead the series in Philly 52-35.  This series became somewhat of a rivalry of Eastern Conference little brothers over the last few years with both teams currently prepared for liftoff. Now, all four of their games against each other are on national TV. It could become a much bugger rivalry before you know it.

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• 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
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The 76ers are currently in third place in the East and are a half-game above the Pacers at 19-10.  They made a big splash by acquiring the one-man meme in Jimmy Butler.  Butler is without a doubt a two-way star and more than capable of taking over any game.  In his first 13 games with the Sixers, he is averaging just under 20 points.  He is currently listed as day-to-day with a groin injury.  Butler missed Wednesday’s game against the Nets with that injury and will be a much-watch situation before tip-off.

The center of the Sixers attack comes from Joel Embiid, who is averaging 26.5 points and over 13 rebounds per game.  He is an absolutely lethal force on both ends of the ball and will be a true test for the current development of Myles Turner.  If Turner wants to play with the big boys of the league, he needs to be able to hang with Embiid.

Ben Simmons is averaging just under eight assists a game.  Simmons has yet to develop a perimeter shot here in his third rookie season, which is a positive matchup for the Pacers stout defense.

Oladipo has said that his knee feels great after last night’s game, so I am not concerned about his health status moving forward.  A lot of the offensive power of the 76ers rests on whether Butler is feeling healthy enough to play.  For prediction’s sake, I will assume Butler plays against a potential playoff tie-breaker.  Given the Pacers history in Philly along with just how good this 76ers team can be, I believe the Pacers winning streak comes to an end.

Prediction: 76ers 110, Pacers 102

What’s in Town?

The Franklin Square Electrical Spectacle Light Show is running all the way through the end of the year if you’re looking for holiday-themed activities.  Justin Timberlake will be playing the Wells Fargo Center just a few days after the Pacers are there.  Outside of that, there isn’t a ton going on. There’s always a lot of American history to check out in Philly, as well as the steps from the movie “Rocky”.