Getty Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers are set to meet up with Chris Paul and the Oklahoma City Thunder for a friendly scrimmage as both teams prepare for the restart of the NBA season in Orlando.
The scrimmage starts at Noon ET. It will be broadcast on NBA TV (nationally), NBC Sports Philadelphia (locally in 76ers market) and OKCThunder.com (locally in Thunder market).
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If you don’t have cable and the OKCThunder.com option doesn’t work (it’s unclear if it will work for out-of-market viewers), you can also watch a live stream of the 76ers vs Thunder scrimmage via a free trial of FuboTV.
On top of FuboTV’s main 97-channel package, you can include add-on bundles such as “Sports Plus” or “fubo Extra.” Both of those include NBA TV, and both can be included in a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch a live stream of NBA TV’s broadcast of the 76ers vs Thunder scrimmage on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
76ers vs Thunder Scrimmage Preview
Philadelphia has high hopes as the NBA season restarts in Orlando and the friendly scrimmages are a sign that things are finally getting close. The 76ers were 39-26 when the season was put on hold and could still make a large leap in the standings before the playoffs, depending on how the eight “seeding games” go.
A big surprise in the Sixers first game was the play of Ben Simmons, who lined up a pair of 3-pointers during Philadelphia’s 90-83 win over Memphis.
“I feel like his spirit, his mindset coming down here, him willingly finding space and finding threes, that has been a paradigm shift,” Brown said, via ESPN. “That has been an attitudinal change; a philosophical, internal decision that he has made, because I have just seen a player that is cocky and just playing and when the game says you should shoot because nobody is on you, he does, and he doesn’t blink and his teammates love it and so does his head coach.”
There’s also been a shift in the game plan for Simmons, who is sliding from point guard to power forward in the starting lineup. which also includes Shake Milton, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid. It worked swimmingly in the Sixers first scrimmage.
“I’m happy with it,” Simmons said. “I can guard 1-5, I can play everywhere, but catching in those positions, I love those spots. I work on those spots, and my footwork there. I just got to keep working and taking what’s given to us.”
Oklahoma City took down Boston in their first bubble action, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Steven Adams each chipping in 17 points. But the real story was the return of former All-Defensive team selection Andre Roberson to the court. He had been sidelined for more than two years following a career-altering knee injury.
“It was a lot of emotions — anxious, happy, overly ecstatic just to get back out there on that floor and hear Coach call my name,” Roberson said. “He gave me a heads-up at halftime I was going to go in, so just getting myself ready. The nerves just started rattling, I don’t know if you guys could tell it, but it felt great to be back out there.”
While no fans were in the stands, Roberson got a standing ovation from his teammates.
“The guys couldn’t have been any more excited for him.” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Certainly, the staff was very excited for him. I know I was, just seeing what he has gone through for the last two years. And then I think you were able to see glimpses of what’s made him such a great defensive player, the things that he does do and just how smart he is, his ability with his feet, his length. He actually played really, really well.”