The Philadelphia 76ers will close out preseason play at home against the Boston Celtics on Friday night. It will be the second straight preseason meeting against Boston for Philadelphia, as the Celtics bested the Sixers 144-106 last weekend.
The game will serve as the final test for both teams before regular season play gets underway next week. Here's a look at three storylines worth paying attention for Philadelphia heading into the game.
1. Who will be on the court for Philadelphia?
The biggest, and most obvious, question facing the 76ers heading into the final preseason contest is which players will be taking the floor for the contest. While head coach Nick Nurse has used preseason play to help his key contributors get some reps together, he has also limited how much those guys have actually been on the court.
LeBron James and Joel Embiid each only played in one of Philadelphia's three preseason games thus far, and it remains to be seen if they'll take the court for the preseason finale or if Nurse will be content to just let them rest to ensure that they're as healthy as possible for the start of the grind that is the regular season.
Similarly, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey have played in two of Philly's three exhibitions so far, and it will be interesting to see if Nurse wants to get those guys a bit more burn, or if he'll just lean largely on reserves to close out the preseason.
2. A chance to tinker with frontcourt depth
Heading into the season, the biggest question facing the Sixers in terms of roster construction is frontcourt depth, particularly behind starting center Joel Embiid. The Sixer signed reserve center Ariel Hukporti over the offseason, but he suffered a torn Achilles in the preseason opener, which will sideline him for the entirety of the campaign, leaving Adem Bona as the only true center behind Embiid.
In order to overcome the lack of depth behind Embiid, the Sixers are going to have to get creative, and they could use the preseason finale to continue to try some stuff, such as small-ball lineups with guys like Jabari Walker and Dean Wade at center.
Dominick Barlow will likely figure heavily into Philadelphia's backup center plans, but he continues to be sidelined with a back injury, and is unlikely to play in the preseason finale against Boston. According to Nick Nurse, there is currently no timetable on a return for Barlow.
“There is no timeline,” Nurse said. “He just has some soreness that he’s dealing with. Giving him some real decent time off to see if that will kind of progress it quickly. There’s no timeline. Just hoping it gets a little better, he feels a little better and he can get back out there fairly shortly.”
3. Last chance to make an impression for fringe roster guys
The preseason finale will serve as the last chance to make an impression for fringe roster players who are fighting for a roster spot. Guys like Duke Miles, Jameer Nelson Jr. and Saint Thomas will have one more shot to show that they could be a valuable addition to a roster, either in Philadelphia or elsewhere.
Even if it doesn't lead directly to a roster spot, a good showing in the preseason finale could keep a player in the Sixers' good graces should they need to fill out the roster later in the season.
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