76ers vs. Warriors: Can Philly Close Out West Coast Trip With Back to Back Wins?

The 76ers are set to face the Warriors on Saturday for their final game of the West Coast road trip.

*Injury Update: Warriors have ruled out Steph Curry with an Illness on Saturday.

The long trip on the road for the Philadelphia 76ers is coming to an end on Saturday night. Exactly a week ago, the Sixers boarded a flight from Camden, New Jersey, to head out to California for a week-long trip. On schedule, the Sixers started their four-game stint with a tough Sunday afternoon matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers.

While the shorthanded Sixers shockingly hung around for a while, the Clippers put them back in their place during the second half and defeated Philly. The next matchup at the Staples Center against the Lakers was a similar situation.

Once again, the Sixers put up a good fight in the first half, just to lose control in the second. That led to an L.A. beatdown as the Lakers issued the 76ers their ninth-straight road loss on Tuesday. Fortunately, the Sixers bounced back.

With an easier matchup against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, the Sixers turned their road woes around by taking down the Kings 125-108. Now, they have a chance to head back East with a 2-2 record on the road, which isn't an easy feat nowadays for the Sixers.

On Saturday, Philly will face the Golden State Warriors for the second and final time this season. When these two teams met back in late January, Philly picked up a 115-104 win at home. At the time, the circumstances were much different in terms of who was on what team and who was available.

The Sixers were rolling with a healthy Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. That won't be the case on Saturday. Plus, the Warriors had Glenn Robinson and Alec Burks on their squad at the time, but now they are returning to the Chase Center as the enemies for the first time since they've been traded to the Sixers for multiple draft picks.

And the biggest difference-maker of them all? Warriors' guard, Steph Curry. For pretty much the entirety of the season, Curry has spent his time sidelined with a hand injury. Recently, though, the former MVP has returned to the court and will receive playing time against the Sixers. It's unclear if Curry will be on a minutes restriction on Saturday night or not, but regardless, the star guard is playing.

As long as the Sixers shoot as well as they did against Sacramento, they shouldn't have too many problems against Golden State. Despite playing on the road, the Sixers will be viewed as 1.5-point favorites, according to ESPN.

If the Sixers issue Golden State a loss, and the Memphis Grizzlies win their respective matchup, the Warriors will officially be ruled out of playoff contention on Saturday night. Although they weren't expected to make it this season for a while, the implications still offer the Warriors a reason to make the Sixers' final West Coast game a tough one.