This past Sixers basketball weekend went as we expected. With all three stars available Friday, Philadelphia took care of Charlotte without much fanfare for about the 18th time this season. Then, as Embiid sat as the Sixers traveled to Cleveland for the second night in a row, the NBA-best Cavaliers handed Nick Nurse’s team the win in a resounding loss for Philadelphia.

The Sixers are now 9-17, which still isn’t great, but it’s a lot better than they were back then. Philadelphia is starting to at least move into play-in tournament territory, and the team’s record is certainly impressive when at least two members of the newly formed Big 3 team up on any given night.

Now it’s time for a fresh start as the Sixers return home to face San Antonio tonight. Spurs have a completely clean injury report (must be nice). The Sixers have Joel Embiid listed as available. Jared McCain is apparently out, as is Eric Gordon due to oral surgery, while Ricky Council IV is listed as questionable due to right knee soreness.

Tonight’s game against San Antonio is certainly one that many have circled on the calendar. (That is, if people still use calendars. Set an alarm in their calendar app on their iPhone?) The last time Joel Embiid and Victor Wembanyama met on the court, Team USA beat Team France in the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics (sorry, Guerschon). Even more relevant to today’s event, the last time they met on an NBA court, Embiid posted the highest score of his career in the Sixers’ 133-123 win over San Antonio in January. Joel’s most recent knee injury only began later this month, so the 70th against Spurs is, so to speak, our last pure moment of greatness to date.

While Embiid’s career prospects have dimmed in recent months, Wembanyama’s career is on a rocket ship to the stars. I could throw a lot of stats at you, but how about we just repeat his stats from the Spurs’ last game, a win over Portland: 30 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 10(!) blocks. Elite companies here:

The young man is a complete game-changer as a rim-protecting presence, and take a look at the versatility he brings to the offense:

There is a very real possibility that we are looking at the promotion of a player who will one day own this league. It’s a lot of fun to see the improved squad surrounding Wembanyama this season as the 15-13 Spurs remain in the thick of the action in the highly competitive Western Conference. Acquiring Chris Paul as a stabilizing presence to help build the offense was a nice piece of free agency business for San Antonio. Signing Harrison Barnes for free was also smart as the Kings were trying to free up cap space to bring in DeMar DeRozan. The number four overall pick, Stephon Castle, also looks to be a success as he is currently averaging 11.4 points and 3.9 assists as a part-time starter.

Embiid vs. Wemby is the headliner, but this is also a nice test for this Sixers group that’s trying to come together and regroup on the fly. The Sixers are still looking for their first win of the season against a Western Conference opponent and the Spurs are not the Thunder, but they are a really solid team. This would be a quality win for Philadelphia.

It’s not an easy transition to get there, but finally I’d like to extend my best wishes to Gregg Popovich, who is still out of the team as he recovers from a stroke last month. Great news that Pop is expected to make a full recovery.

Anyway, tonight should be fun. Let’s hope the Sixers prevail and get their 10th win of the season.

Game details

WHO: Philadelphia 76ers vs. San Antonio Spurs
When: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: The Center, Philadelphia, PA
Regard: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA TV
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Consequences: @LibertyBallers