NBA Matchups: January 7

San Antonio Spurs at Philadelphia 76ers

Team Totals: Spurs 105.3, 76ers 112.8

Injury Report: Danny Green (Q, calf), Isaiah Joe (Q, back), Tyrese Maxey (O, protocols), Shake Milton (O, back), Paul Reed (O, protocols), Devontae Cacok (Q, conditioning), Keldon Johnson (O, protocols), Doug McDermott (O, protocols), Devin Vassell (O, protocols), Lonnie Walker IV (Q, reconditioning), Derrick White (O, protocols), Thaddeus Young (O, protocols)

Spurs projected starters: Dejounte Murray, Tre Jones, Lonnie Walker IV, Keita Bates-Diop, Jakob Poeltl

76ers projected starters: Seth Curry, Furkan Korkmaz, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid

Popovich quotes: Said turnovers were a factor on both ends, said they wouldn’t win the game without Dejounte, said he was surprised that Dejounte had as much rhythm as he did, said he likes Vassell’s length and his confidence is really growing to do more offensively, said Dejounte told him his lungs felt good and they were checking in with him, said Derrick White is great at anticipating opponent moves, said they have to take defense seriously to win games.

Rivers quotes: Didn’t really have anything to say about basketball.

Stats and Notes:

*The Spurs are missing a huge chunk of their rotation, so we know it’ll be the Dejounte Murray Show. I’d expect Tre Jones to start next to him like he did next to Derrick White with Dejounte doing most of the ball-handling. It’s a pretty good matchup for Lonnie Walker without much size on the wings, so he could get up there, assuming he can go. It’s not the same situation as Dejounte because Lonnie’s timeline on clearance of protocols is close to a day later, so he likely didn’t get to ramp up as much. There’s a chance he comes off the bench, which would make him a tough play.

*It’s a bad spot for Jakob Poeltl, but the minutes could really be there to make him a contrarian option. On the other hand, we’ve seen some Jock Landale PF minutes recently, and those will likely be on the table today. If Poeltl is in foul trouble, there could be some nice upside on Landale. I’m not really into Keita Bates-Diop in this spot.

*It’s all about Embiid on the 76ers. He did rip up Poeltl in their one matchup last year with a 34/9/1 line over 35 minutes against him. He’s coming off two massive usage rate games without Maxey with a 43 and 40 in the last two games, and the Spurs are really going to try to speed him up. It could be a monster night, but the 76ers could pull away. It’s not a bad idea to play Dejounte and Embiid together.

Milwaukee Bucks (front end) at Brooklyn Nets