76ers host Knicks Friday to open NBA Cup group play

The Philadelphia 76ers start their NBA Cup run Friday night with a familiar opponent. The New York Knicks come to Xfinity Mobile Arena for a 7:30 p.m. Eastern tip on Prime Video, and the game counts in the standings and in the in-season tournament, ESPN's preview reports. These are the teams that opened the season against each other, and Philadelphia won that one 106-100 at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 20 behind 28 points from Tyrese Maxey.

The stakes are higher than one group game. USA Today notes that the Knicks are defending both the NBA title and the Cup and share East Group B with Philadelphia. A second win over New York in 10 days would give the Sixers an early edge in the group and the tiebreak math that comes with it.

Philadelphia got here after a comeback in Indiana on Wednesday. The Sixers trailed by 13 going into the fourth quarter, according to Bleacher Report, and won 114-109. Maxey scored 27, including two 3-pointers in the final minute and a half, per the AP recap carried by CBS Sports.

The schedule may matter as much as the matchup. Philadelphia plays at Charlotte on Saturday, so Friday is the front end of a back-to-back. The last time that happened, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe sat out the second night, and Embiid's absence was tied to managing his plantar fasciitis, Field Level Media reported via CBS Sports. Embiid had openly asked to play both nights. "I actually want to play," he told reporters, as Field Level Media reported. Friday comes first on that turn, so it is the likelier of the two games to have the full rotation available.

The Sixers' injury list holds no major names. ESPN lists Ariel Hukporti out for the season with an Achilles injury and Dominick Barlow out with a back problem. Jabari Walker (knee) and Tacko Fall (quadriceps) are day to day. For New York, Jose Alvarado is day to day with an ankle injury.

What it means for Friday

The two teams arrive on very different tracks. Philadelphia is 4-1 and first in the Atlantic Division, with a 2-1 home record. In five games the Sixers have scored 554 points and allowed 537, a margin of about 3.4 per game. Their only loss came at home against Detroit, 106-93, on the night Embiid and Edgecombe rested. Wins over New York, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Indiana make up the rest of the record.

New York is 2-3 but improving. The Knicks opened 0-3, including the loss in the opener against Philadelphia, and have won their last two. They are 1-1 on the road. Karl-Anthony Towns has given them a steady presence on the glass, averaging 12 rebounds a game in the early going, according to USA Today. Last season New York went 53-29 and Philadelphia finished 45-37.

In the opener, Maxey and a rebuilt lineup with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown beat the Knicks on their own floor. Friday tests whether that result holds at home against a champion that has found its footing. It also opens a four-game season series that returns to Philadelphia once more and ends in New York.