After a nice weekend off, the Sixers begin a brutal week against teams like the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks. Tonight, Philly will be hosting the Golden State Warriors tonight on ESPN. Both sides will likely be without significant pieces to their roster, with players like Ben Simmons and Steph Curry possibly out.

For Golden State, they will likely be without Steph Curry, Kelly Oubre Jr.,  and rookie James Wiseman. Curry hurt his ankle during their game Saturday against the Celtics and left early after a dominant showing. Steph had 47 points, including 11 made three-pointers in the five-point loss. Oubre Jr. has left wrist soreness, and Wiseman tore his meniscus a few games ago and is out for the season.

The Sixers have a long injury list of their own. Ben Simmons is questionable with an illness. Both Dwight Howard and Tobias Harris are questionable as well with knee soreness. To finish off the list, Seth Curry has left hip flexor tightness, and the new acquisition George Hill is questionable with thumb rehab.

Fans shouldn’t be concerned with the injuries. These are all very likely preventive measures to make sure everyone is healthy for the upcoming games. It makes sense to give everyone a rest against a weakened team where they won’t be needed as much. These two teams faced off back in late March, a game the Sixers won 108-98.

With a win tonight, the Sixers can expand their lead in the East to two games and hopefully look to lock up a top-two seed with wins over the Bucks on Thursday and Saturday. With Embiid playing, this shouldn’t be a challenge with or without the other starters playing. The Warriors’ next best player is Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green, and neither will be able to keep up with the dominant Sixers.

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press