Sixers lose in Portland despite dominant performances from Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid
Late last night, the Philadelphia 76ers dropped a game on the road to the Portland Trail Blazers, 118-114. Entering the matchup, the Sixers won six of seven games, with their only loss coming at home to the Blazers last week.
Even with dominant performances from Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, you could tell the Sixers really didn’t have any business to win this game given the fact that Portland was hitting every shot they took and we had a Vintage Melo sighting late in the second half.
Portland started the game off on fire, shooting 7-8 from three point range in the first six minutes. Dame Lillard and Gary Trent Jr. were hitting every shot they took from beyond the arc. Portland finished the game 17-38 from three point range. The fact that they needed a pair of free throw’s to win it in the final seconds is pretty remarkable.
Without Shake Milton on the bench, the Sixers reserved struggled offensively. Maxey was 2-8 from the field, Furkan was 0-4 from three point range, and Matisse Thybulle only made one basket on three shots. As a whole, the Sixers struggled from three point range throughout the game, shooting 6-27 from deep.
Doc Rivers often mentioned Embiid and Simmons playing “two-man” games this season. Last night was really the first time we got to witness such play. Simmons finished the game with 23 points on 10-12 shooting. He pulled in 11 rebounds and nine assists and only turned the ball over once. Simmons attacked the rim like a mad man and knocked down hook shots in the paint. Embiid had a “slow start” with 17 points in the first half. He finished with 35 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
The Sixers snapped a four game winning-streak on the road. However, the defense made adjustments, Ben Simmons was an assist shy of a triple-double, and Joel Embiid remained unstoppable on an NBA court.
The Sixers are 9-3 in their past 12 games and will head to Phoenix to play the Suns on Saturday.
Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes | AP
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