Trending Trade: 76ers Rival Secures More Guard Depth With Latest Free Agent Signing
Since Joel Embiid went down with injury, the Philadelphia 76ers have saw themselves slightly dip in the standings. After sitting in third place for most of the season, they are now in fifth.
Aside from being without Embiid, the teams around them getting better has been a major factor as well. One of the teams just behind them in the standings just landed more upgrades after inking a former champion to a free-agent contract.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday that veteran point guard Patty Mills has signed a deal with the Miami Heat. He was previously with the Atlanta Hawks, but was waived at the end of February. In the 19 games he appeared in this season, Mills averaged 2.7 PPG while shooting 38.2% from beyond the arc.
As things currently sit, the Heat are just one game behind the Sixers in the standings. They’ve been one of the hotter teams in the league as of late, winning six of their last seven games.
Over the past few months, Miami has made multiple upgrades to their backcourt. First, they acquired Terry Rozier in exchange for Kyle Lowry. They’ve made multiple signings in the buyout market as well, bringing in Delon Wright and Mills.
At age 35, Mills can still be a productive vet in the right role. He’ll bring championship experience, but more importantly, outside shooting. Having multiple floor spacers is crucial for a team like the Heat, who are centered around two non-shooters.
In these final weeks of the regular season, the Sixers and Heat are scheduled to face off twice. The first meeting will be on March 18th, followed by another matchup on April 4th.
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76ers’ De’Anthony Melton Continues to Be Sidelined vs. Nets
On Tuesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers are set to wrap up their two game road trip at the Barclays Center, where they will take on the Brooklyn Nets.
In the first stop in their short road trip on Sunday afternoon, the Sixers took on the Dallas Mavericks, who proved to be too much for the Eastern Conference side when the two met earlier in the season.
That wouldn’t be the case on Sunday, as the Sixers scraped out a win against the Mavericks, thanks in part due to an impressive offensive showing from Tyrese Maxey.
Against his hometown team, Maxey dropped 24 points on 53 percent from the field, which would be outdone by Tobias Harris, who went on to end the day with 28 points on 57 percent shooting, making it his second straight game of 25+ points.
One player who didn’t feature for Nick Nurse’s side was De’Anthony Melton, who sat out for his second straight game due to bone stress in his lower back.
The 25-year-old left the Sixers’ match against the Boston Celtics last week at half time due to back spasms, meaning that he would return to the bench only three games after from his return from an 18 game stint on the bench.
It appears that his urrent stint on the bench will extend to three games, as Melton has been listed as out against the Nets on Tuesday night. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given that the 25-year-old did not travel with the team to Dallas, and the same can be said for Brooklyn this week.
While Melton was out against Brooklyn in their last meeting in January, he did put up an impressive showing during their first match in mid-November, scoring 21 points on 80 percent accuracy from the field, while recording three steals.
Elsewhere on the Sixers’ bench lies Robert Covington and Cam Payne, who has been downgraded to questionable due to an illness.
The Sixers are set to take on the Nets for the third time this season on Tuesday night, with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. EST.
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