PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves are set to square off in a battle of conference heavyweights on Wednesday night. There’s a strong sense of admiration between the Sixers and the Wolves thanks in part to the links offered by Patrick Beverley, who played for the Wolves two seasons ago, and Shake Milton, a former Sixer who will play in Philly for the first time as an opponent. Each team knows how formidable and star-studded the other one is.
The Sixers lost to the Timberwolves in their first matchup this season, though Joel Embiid was inactive, leading to a rout from Minnesota. Now in Philly with Embiid healthy, the Sixers should have a much better shot at picking up a big win, though their depth on the wings looks suspect for this game.
Ahead of the Sixers' first game against the Timberwolves, Beverley said that Minnesota star Anthony Edwards has superstar potential. Following their team's shootaround, Timberwolves stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Mike Conley gave their respect to the Sixers stars they will likely be seeing a lot of tonight.
“I've been a big fan of his,” Conley said of Tyrese Maxey. “I think that the way that he approaches the game, coming in as a rookie and kind of letting his game develop, not rushing it too much, I think he just lets the game kind of come to him. He plays with ease. Nothing's too stressful with him.
“I think the city here loves him. The team loves him,” the Timberwolves' guard continued. “Seems like a great guy and he plays with a lot of force and passion. He's my kind of point guard. I love to watch him play, love to play against him and compete against him, so it'll be fun.”
Embiid and Towns have gone at it a bunch over the years, most notably sparking a huge brawl in a 2019 matchup. Heading into tonight’s game, the T-Wolves star has recognized how his game is growing under new head coach Nick Nurse and the team-wide effort it will take to slow him down.
“His talent, size, the game plan, a great coaching staff and offensive game plan that they have set up for him…Definitely, he’s playing at a high level,” Towns said, “and we have to come together to contain him.”
With Embiid and Maxey looking to get the Sixers back in the win column against Towns, Conley, Edwards and Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Rudy Gobert, tonight’s matchup at Wells Fargo Center should be a hard-fought battle and great litmus for both teams.
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