Memphis @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 22, 2018 ) Philadelphia 101, Memphis 105

The Philadelphia 76ers are keeping the heat on those ahead of them in the Eastern Conference playoff race and have an excellent chance to continue their surge when the lowly Memphis Grizzlies visit Wednesday night. Three consecutive victories have the sixth-place 76ers a half-game out of fifth, a game out of fourth and 1 1/2 games behind third-place Cleveland.

The winning streak, combined with a favorable schedule the rest of the way, has Philadelphia dreaming big. "Our goal is to make the playoffs,” coach Brett Brown told the media after Monday's 108-94 win over Charlotte at home. "Now, seemingly, we are pretty close to doing that. Now we all get greedy and say, 'Let's get a home court.' And I'm the captain of that new club. And it can only happen if we guard. And that's the message to our team." The Grizzlies snapped their 19-game losing streak over the weekend before falling 118-115 at Brooklyn on Monday. It was the 15th consecutive road loss for Memphis, but the squad has won 10 in a row against the Sixers and seven straight in Philadelphia.

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

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (19-51): Andrew Harrison (wrist) returned from a nine-game absence to score 19 points against the Nets but missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it in the closing moments. "I should have pushed the ball up," Harrison - who is averaging 15.8 points in five games since the All-Star break - told reporters. "It's all on me. All on me." Center Marc Gasol missed the loss due to an illness and point guard Tyreke Evans also sat after averaging 22.5 points in his first two games since returning from a rib injury.

ABOUT THE 76ERS (39-30): Philadelphia has been careful to get Joel Embiid to the point where he is an everyday player and has kept an eye on the minutes for rookie Ben Simmons, but both seem to be handling the grueling schedule of their first full NBA seasons just fine. Embiid is averaging 26.8 points and 15 rebounds over his last four games while Simmons has three of his nine triple-doubles in that same span, and the LSU product posted 15 assists with zero turnovers against Charlotte. "That was probably the easiest triple-double I've had because they were hot. My teammates were hot," Simmons told reporters. "Finding guys, if they are sagging off me, I'm just going to find my guy, set a screen. He's wide-open. So the reason it seems easy for me is because they make it easy for me."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Gasol and Evans combined for 37 points as Memphis topped Philadelphia 105-101 at home earlier this season.

2. The Sixers have won 15 of their last 16 in their home arena.

3. Philadelphia SG Robert Covington is 11-of-19 from 3-point range over his last three games.

PREDICTION: 76ers 113, Grizzlies 104