OAKLAND -- The Sixers and Warriors meet for the second time this season tonight at Oracle Arena. While the Warriors are trying to build toward advancing deeper into the postseason, the Sixers are hoping their rebuild goes as well as it has for their opponents.
Here is the matchup in 3-Dei:
1. Hold the Curry, please
It seems unfair that so often the point guard matchup is key to the Sixers' success, but the NBA is a point guard league.
Michael Carter-Williams takes on the leagues's fifth-leading scorer in Stephen Curry. The fifth-year point guard has a different skill set than Carter-Williams. Curry is smaller and quicker. He also made the most three-pointers last season and is currently leading that category again with 161.
Carter-Williams knows the challenge. He needs to run Curry off the three-point line. However, the Sixers must beware. Curry will certainly find the open teammate, as he is second in the league in assists with 9.1 per game.
2. No biggie
Golden State is missing a couple big men. David Lee will miss his third straight game because of a sore shoulder and a hip strain. Andrew Bogut is questionable to play with a sore shoulder.
The frontcourt is not the Sixers' strength in terms of power or rebounding prowess, but when a team is down two starters inside, one must take advantage.
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If both Lee and Bogut are out of the lineup, that's 20.4 rebounds the Sixers must try to gobble up.
3. A.I. part two is still dangerous
Andre Iguodala will have every intention of making his presence felt, just as he did when he came to Philadelphia Nov. 4 and scored a season-high 32 points against his former team.
Iguodala is a fierce competitor. He is averaging 9.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game this season. However, he fits the Warriors' roster perfectly as a complementary piece that plays strong defense.
Evan Turner will enjoy the challenge of going up against his old mate. But if Iguodala starts to feel it, Turner is not good enough defensively to slow him down one-on-one.