Sixers Take Care of Business on Road vs. San Antonio Spurs
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Even though the Philadelphia 76ers saw a seven-game win streak snapped at the start of the weekly slate as they took on a loss against the Orlando Magic, the Sixers bounced back two nights later by taking down the Magic for the third time this year.
Coming off of a Wednesday night win at home, the Sixers hit the road for a multi-game road trip beginning with a matchup against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
When the Sixers met with the Spurs earlier in the year, the Sixers were struggling in late October, failing to collect a win in their first two games. Although they were heavy favorites over the Spurs, San Antonio stunned the Sixers and spoiled a 40-point night by Joel Embiid, as San Antonio issued the Sixers their third-straight loss with a 114-105 victory.
On Friday, both teams looked totally different. San Antonio was in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, sitting in the Western Conference’s 14th seed with a 14-38 record. Meanwhile, the Sixers are in the Eastern Conference’s third seed with a 33-17 record, winning seven of their last eight games.
The Sixers were certainly the healthier team with more momentum going into Friday’s game, but the Spurs once again proved they aren’t a team that’s going to roll over for their opponent from the jump.
San Antonio chucked up three more shots than the Sixers from the field, knocking down 44 percent of their attempts. Scoring came from everywhere for the Spurs. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid expectedly led the charge for the Sixers.
In nine minutes on the court, Embiid collected seven points. James Harden and De’Anthony Melton combined for ten points, while Tyrese Maxey led the charge with five points off the bench.
While the Spurs shot more efficiently from the field overall, the Sixers drained nearly 60 percent of their threes. Through the first quarter of action, the Sixers and the Spurs were knotted at 26.
After a tight first quarter, the Sixers found separation in the second quarter. Embiid, who checked in for a little under six minutes, knocked down all but one of his four shots from the field and was a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe. He led the Sixers with 11 points.
Philadelphia’s bench was active in the second quarter as well, as everybody who logged minutes got on the board. Maxey led the Sixers’ bench with eight points, while Montrezl Harrell was perfect from the field, scoring six points.
While the Spurs shot efficiently from the field themselves, knocking down 67 percent of their field goals, the Sixers were just much better as they knocked down 81 percent of their shots. Through the first half, the Sixers knocked down 70 percent of their deep shots. As they dominated in that department, Philly went into halftime leading 73-61.
Both teams continued to put on an efficient showing from the field. Putting up 19 shots from the field, the Spurs hit on 63 percent of their shots. Spurs forward Keldon Johnson checked in for the entire period to hit on two of his three shots, scoring a team-leading six points in the third quarter.
The Spurs were putting up a good fight, but the Sixers took advantage of San Antonio’s six turnovers. With a 12-point showing from Embiid in ten minutes, the Sixers put up 33 more points on the Spurs before the fourth quarter.
While the game was tight at the start, the Sixers were beginning to pull away as the final quarter of the outing approached. Philadelphia was out in front 106-87.
All the Sixers had left to do was maintain their lead, get their key players off the floor, and put the Spurs away. Maintaining their lead wasn’t an issue, but the Sixers didn’t have enough cushion to give guys like Embiid and Harden the fourth quarter off.
However, Doc Rivers strutted out Sixers reserves for healthy bunches early in the game, which helped Sixers stars keep their minutes lower than usual. Embiid and Maxey checked in for a team-high of 27 minutes. Meanwhile, Harden, Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton, and PJ Tucker kept their minutes within the early 20s as well.
After the Sixers put on a dominant second-quarter performance, they never looked back. Knocking down over 50 percent of their shots and drilling nearly 50 percent of their threes, the Sixers put the Spurs away with a 137-125 win.
