Sixers Fall Apart vs. Shorthanded Trail Blazers on Thursday
After wrapping a three-game road trip by sweeping the Timberwolves, Pacers, and the Hornets, the Philadelphia 76ers returned home for the first time in over a week on Thursday night to host the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers.
Coming into the matchup, the Blazers knew they would already be without two starters in CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. However, their starting point guard Damian Lillard was listed as questionable before the matchup before being ruled out officially on Thursday afternoon.
Portland wasn't the only shorthanded squad on Thursday. The Sixers, who expected to play without reserves Mike Scott and Terrance Ferguson, also ruled out their starting point guard Ben Simmons as he's dealing with calf tightness.
With a Ben Simmons-less lineup, Seth Curry started at point guard for the Sixers on Thursday. Typically, Philly's offense runs through Joel Embiid as he gets the scoring going for his team, but veteran guard Furkan Korkmaz proved he belonged on the floor with the starters as he led the Sixers in scoring through the first quarter.
As a team, the 76ers drained 45-percent of their shots from the field. Both Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris contributed to six points apiece, while Korkmaz led the charge with 10 points after playing in the entire quarter. Despite Portland being shorthanded, they put up a good fight through one as they tied the Sixers at 28.
Both teams struggled to pull away from one another in the second quarter as the Sixers were neck and neck with the Blazers for the next 12 minutes. Embiid, who had an injury scare during the first quarter after hyperextending his knee, came back out onto the court and dominated in the second quarter.
As he shot 8-for-11 from the field and knocked down all nine of his free throw attempts, Embiid managed to account for 25 of the Sixers' 29 total points in the second quarter. Unfortunately for the Sixers, the Blazers matched Embiid's production as they totaled for 29 points. Heading into halftime, the score was tied at 57.
Portland came into the second half looking much more dominant than they did in the first half. While nobody on their squad had a solo dominant performance to match Embiid's progress in the first half, the Blazers had solid scoring all around as they managed to put up 40 points in the third quarter along without a single player scoring double digits.
Meanwhile, Embiid cooled off as he scored just four points in eight minutes of action. With an opportunity available for somebody else on the Sixers to step up and help the big man out, nobody could get the job done. The 76ers were outscored by 21 points in the third quarter and went into the final quarter trailing 97-79.
Doc Rivers must've felt a possible comeback on the horizon as he allowed key players such as Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris to remain in the game during the fourth quarter. But the 76ers simply didn't have it in them. As they continued to struggle offensively and defensively, the Blazers stayed hot and kept their commanding lead.
Blazers guard Gary Trent Jr. had himself a night with 24 points, while veteran forward Carmelo Anthony followed up with 22 points of his own. Although they were shorthanded for the matchup, the Blazers managed to upset the 76ers with a blowout victory by winning 121-105. That loss snaps the Sixers' four-game win streak sending them into Saturday's game with a 16-7 record.
