Philadelphia 76ers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
On Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers extended their winning streak to three games as they took down the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Sixers held a healthy lead against the Clippers for the first two and a half quarters, thanks in part to Joel Embiid's 28-point first half, with Tobias Harris playing out of his mind against his former team, snagging five steals and 14 points throughout the first two quarters.
Granted, Los Angeles wasn't going down without a fight, as they climbed all the way back to within one point of Philadelphia by the end of the third quarter, as Doc Rivers' side struggled to convert on the offensive end.
Tyrese Maxey and the bench helped to ward off the Clippers' comeback, scoring 14 points in the final quarter, to hand the Sixers their eighth win in their past ten games, bringing them to the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
On the other side of the ticket sits the Portland Trail Blazers, who come into Thursday night's match off of a close loss against the Denver Nuggets.
Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers in scoring with 44 points, with 18 of those points coming from deep. Jerami Grant, who the Sixers drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, put up a commendable 18 points while securing four rebounds.
These efforts weren't enough to thwart defending back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic, who put up a 36-point triple-double to get his team over the hump.
Chauncey Billups will only have two potential injuries to navigate as Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Payton II are both listed as probable for Thursday night’s game.
Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.
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