Charlotte @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 6, 2018 ) Philadelphia 128, Charlotte 114

The Philadelphia 76ers hope to keep taking advantage of lesser opponents as they fight for playoff positioning when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. The Sixers took care of business against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets - two of the five Eastern Conference teams that are at least 20 games below .500 - to begin the stretch and they also look forward to matchups with lowly squads Memphis and Orlando after finishing up with the Hornets.

Joel Embiid marked his 24th birthday with 24 points and a career-high 19 rebounds in Philadelphia's 120-116 win over the Nets on Friday, which left it alone in sixth place in the East and just 1 1/2 games out of third. Brooklyn actually had the lead in the final minute before a clutch 3-pointer by Robert Covington and a big block by Embiid helped the growing Sixers get to the finish line. "It lets them know because we've been on the other side of that," coach Brett Brown told reporters of surviving a tight stretch run. "We do have the people, I believe we have the structure and they have shown they have the poise to be able to walk a game down." The Hornets are inching toward mathematical elimination from the playoff race after falling 124-101 at the Knicks on Saturday, their seventh defeat in the past nine games.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Charlotte), NBCS Philadelphia

ABOUT THE HORNETS (30-40): Charlotte's white flag on the season may have been hoisted in the third quarter at New York on Saturday, as it was outscored 42-17 by a team that had dropped its previous nine games. "There are gonna be nights like that," center Dwight Howard told the media. "I didn't think it was going to be that bad, but it was a tough one for us. We are playing pretty good as of late, but tonight we just laid an egg." Howard struggled to 6-of-17 from the floor but recorded his fourth straight double-double to give him 709 for his career, one shy of Hall of Famer Charles Barkley for seventh on the NBA's list since the 1983-84 season.

ABOUT THE 76ERS (38-30): Covington's clutch 3-pointer gave him double digits in scoring in four straight games - his longest such streak since December, all since he was 0-for-10 from the field in a loss at Miami. "If you pass up on shots, then you never know if the next one is going to go in," Covington said of his mindset in fighting through slumps. "If you still have that rhythm, you still have the shot, you still have to take it no matter what. A lot of times, I take shots that feel good but they don't go in, but the next one might go in. You don't know if you don't take it." The 27-year-old is 7-for-10 from 3-point range over the last two games and he went 7-for-13 while averaging 19 points in two wins over Charlotte earlier this month.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. After recording back-to-back triple-doubles, Sixers PG Ben Simmons had 21 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds against Brooklyn.

2. Hornets C Cody Zeller (knee) missed the last four games and is day-to-day.

3. Philadelphia won each of the last four meetings by an average of 10 points.

PREDICTION: 76ers 119, Hornets 107