Saturday game preview

WELLS FARGO CENTER

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. TV: TSN 2 Radio: TSN 1050 Probable starters: Toronto — Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Luis Scola, Jonas Valanciunas. Philadelphia — Ish Smith, Nik Stauskas, JaKarr Sampson, Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor.

Key matchup: Jonas Valanciunas vs. Jahlil Okafor. The bright spots are few and far betweem for the Sixers this season, but Okafor is definitely one of them. If this team has somehow managed to keep you around as a fan, it probably has a lot to do with the sixfoot-11, 275-pound rookie centre and his 17.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. It is Valanciunas’ job to dim that star, for one night at least. He did a good job with a similar task on Wednesday in Brooklyn against Brook Lopez. The Nets’ centre still had 24 points and 13 rebounds, but Valanciunas answered with a team-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Raptors’ 17-point win.

Need to know: At 4-34, the Sixers are going down a historically bad road but have managed to split their last six games. The addition of veteran players has helped. Guard Ish Smith has played a part in that, and the Sixers are hoping the recently unretired Elton Brand can as well.

Up next: Thursday vs. Orlando in London, England. Chris O’Leary