Sixers hope to settle center position and land consecutive wins for first time this season

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 76ers will attempt to do something Tuesday they’ve been unable to accomplish since last season: win consecutive games.

A win over the Charlotte Hornets would give them two successive victories for the first time since ending the 2023-24 regular season with nine straight wins. This contest at the Spectrum Center also will serve as an NBA Cup East Group A finale for both teams.

The Sixers (4-14, 1-2 in group play) and Hornets (6-14, 0-3) have been eliminated from advancing to the knockout round. So this matchup is about gaining positive momentum. And for the Sixers, that would involve building on Saturday’s 111-96 road triumph over the Detroit Pistons.

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They played their best game of the season in Detroit even though they were missing four players and lost center Andre Drummond to a sprained right ankle early in the contest. Drummond will miss the next three games and will be reevaluated this weekend.

“It’s about keep working, getting where we want to get, keep improving and get better every game,” Guerschon Yabusele said Monday after practice at Queens University. “I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for us like we did in the last game: Play together and learn to get better.”

There is one outstanding question as the Sixers try to complete their rare feat: Who’s starting at center?

Seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid did not make the two-game road trip because of injury management on his left knee and personal reasons. The 2023 league MVP has played in only four games this season, with Drummond receiving the bulk of the starts in Embiid’s place.

Coach Nick Nurse was asked who would start Tuesday. “If I had to answer this right now, which I don‘t, probably with a veteran guy [like Yabusele],” Nurse said. “But I am open to seeing it. I am a little bit focused on our last game and the next opponent. I’m yet to sit down and start pushing the rotation’s pencil around a little bit. So I would say it’s open.”

Yabusele, at 6-foot-8 and 280 pounds, is a power forward who has played a lot of center because of the Sixers’ needs. He has already started four games at the position.

Rookie Adem Bona has averaged just 5.2 minutes in 12 appearances. But he did play well as the backup center after Drummond was injured Saturday. The 6-8, 235-pounder had four points, five rebounds, and three blocks while logging 19 minutes, 38 seconds.

“I would say now the depth chart, if that’s what you want to call it, would be Yabu, Bona, and KJ Martin [who stands 6-6] at the five right now,” Nurse said. “That takes two of our fours and slides them up. And that means some of the wings will move to the four, kind of the domino effect of pushing people up.”

That’s not an ideal situation for the Sixers. However, things could have been worse, because Drummond’s ankle injury isn’t as bad as initially feared.

While it’s not a high-ankle sprain, the Sixers said it was a high-grade sprain. A Grade 1 sprain is a mild sprain with slight stretching or microscopic tearing of the ligament. A Grade 2 is a moderate sprain with a partial tear of the ligament, while Grade 3 sprains are severe with a complete tear of the ligament.

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Drummond suffered the injury while landing after a put-back basket. He fell on the court and remained there for a couple of minutes, noticeably in pain. He had to be helped up and was unable to put any pressure on his foot as he was helped to the locker room.

Drummond, who was wearing a walking boot, called the fall “scary.”

“It definitely wasn’t great. It wasn’t great, but I’m tough,” he said Monday. “I started moving around a little bit better the next morning, today a little bit better, too. I walked up and down a little bit to see what kind of pressure I can take. A few days away, I should be all right.”

Drummond was asked how many weeks he expects to miss with the injury.

“Weeks?” he said. “Days. I recover fast, man. I’m staying on top of it. Just doing what the doctors tell me to do, and when it’s time for me to come back, I’ll come back. My plan is to come back soon.”

Caleb Martin (upper back soreness), Kyle Lowry (strained right hip), and Reggie Jackson (right knee soreness) were full participants at practice after being sidelined against the Pistons. Lowry has missed five games, and Martin has been sidelined for two.

The Sixers used the 52nd overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft to select Serbian player Vasilije Micić. Remaining overseas, the 6-foot-5, 205-pounder went on to become one of Europe’s top point guards.

But on Dec. 8, 2020, the Sixers traded his rights along with Al Horford, Théo Maledon, and a top-six protected 2025 first-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Terrance Ferguson, Danny Green, and Vincent Poirier, while also receiving a trade exception.

Micić made his NBA debut on Oct. 27, 2023, and was traded to the Hornets on Feb. 8. Now 30, he averaged 10.8 points and 6.2 assists in 30 games, with 21 starts, last season for the Hornets.

With LaMelo Ball sidelined, Micić was back in the starting lineup the last two games. He averaged 12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 2.5 assists in contests against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday and the New York Knicks on Friday.