Charlotte @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 11, 2019 ) Philadelphia 100, Charlotte 87

The first lengthy road trip of the season for the Philadelphia 76ers was a difficult one, and they'll hope to find their footing in familiar territory when the Charlotte Hornets pay a visit on Sunday. After beginning a four-game swing with a one-point win at Portland, the Sixers lost games at Phoenix, Utah and Denver, blowing a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter to fall to the Nuggets on Friday.

"It was bad. It was a bad loss for us," Philadelphia forward Tobias Harris told reporters. "Obviously, being up and then not being able to stop them, when they had it going. We weren’t able to cut that water off and put a hole to what they were doing." Philadelphia returns home with point guard Ben Simmons (shoulder) still expected to miss at least two more games, but it does get the Hornets playing on the second night of a back-to-back. Charlotte led for much of a Saturday night meeting with New Orleans at home before fading late and dropping a 115-110 decision. The Sixers have won each of the last 10 meetings between the teams and averaged 119.5 points in last season's four matchups.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Charlotte), NBCS Philadelphia Plus

ABOUT THE HORNETS (4-5): Reserve guard Devonte' Graham had 24 points and 10 assists Saturday for his second double-double in the past six games. His team finished with 22 turnovers against the last-place team in the Western Conference entering the night, a scenario that did not sit well with head coach James Borrego. "We had our opportunities to win this game, we didn't take advantage of it," Borrego told reporters. "It's a disappointing effort in the second half that we did not win this game."

ABOUT THE 76ERS (5-3): Star center Joel Embiid returned from a suspension for the final two games of the road trip but struggled to find his game, shooting 11-for-33 from the floor and committing 11 turnovers in the two contests. "We're growing Joel's fitness base and trying to continually move that forward where he can be Joel Embiid," coach Brett Brown told reporters Friday. "You know, tonight you can see that we’ve got some work to do. I think that he fought his heart out." Raul Neto filled in for Simmons and averaged 12 points on 58.9 percent shooting and five assists over the last two games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Embiid averaged 34 points and 14.7 rebounds in three games against the Hornets last season.

2. Hornets rookie SF Cody Martin had a personal-best nine points off the bench in Saturday's loss.

3. Sixers F Al Horford scored a total of 15 points on 6-of-26 shooting over the final two games of the road trip.

PREDICTION: 76ers 114, Hornets 99