The Philadelphia 76ers travel to The Big Easy to play the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on Monday.

The Sixers (38-22) own a 4-2 record across their last six games, as they need to figure out how to play without Joel Embiid. The all-star center is currently dealing with knee issues and a 15-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the most recent game indicates they miss him pretty badly. The good news is that they now have Tobias Harris to lighten the load, as he'll have to pick things up in the absence of Embiid. The fact that the Sixers allowed 130 points to Portland in their last game presents what this teams major weakness is, as they currently rank 20th in points allowed. That's not good enough for a title contender and they need to gain some consistency on that end of the floor if they want to go deep.

The Pelicans (27-34) are in complete disarray right now, as there's so much dysfunction around the organization. The base of the problem is this whole Anthony Davis saga, as management refused to trade him at the trade deadline despite his request. What makes it even worse is the fact that he said he wants to continue to play. That has forced the hand of Alvin Gentry, as he's been playing Davis limited minutes. He actually sat out the team's most recent win, as they have just six wins across their last 17 games. That obviously won't get it done and this stretch has pretty much ended any playoff hopes for this talented team. There's also word that they want to limit Jrue Holiday's minutes down the line too, as this club is going to have a tough time competing with their two best players being limited.

The first meeting between these teams was an epic matchup, with Philly prevailing at home, 121-120 on November 21. A win here for New Orleans would mark the sixth-straight season in which these teams split their two-game season series.