RECAP: Philadelphia 76ers 116, Milwaukee Bucks 94

Despite another scare at the end of the 3rd quarter, the Philadelphia 76ers pulled away from the Milwaukee Bucks , who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo.

During “The Process Era”, time after time, the Philadelphia 76ers would battle for three quarters to make the game close heading into the final frame only to see their opponent kick up to another gear and put away a win.

Tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks, it was refreshing to see the 76ers be on the opposite end of this scenario. Despite giving up a 16-point second quarter lead, the home team managed to pull together a stellar run to start the fourth quarter to seal the win in a contest with potential playoff implications down the line.

It all goes back to turnovers for the Sixers in this contest. When they took care of the ball, the Bucks were no match for the home team. In the first, second and fourth quarters, the Sixers had 5 total turnovers and outscored the Bucks by a total of 24 points. During the third quarter, however; the Sixers coughed it up an obscene 11 times.

The run of turnovers seemed to stem from a lack of focus. Born out of that lapse in concentration were lazy passes from Ben Simmons and faulty execution in the half court offense.

It took a Herculean effort by Joel Embiid at the end of the third frame to keep the Sixers ahead of the Bucks. He scored seven points in a row for the 76ers during that stretch. This was highlighted by a monster dunk and a marvelous end of the shot clock drive that started at the three-point line and ended with a pirouetting lay up finding the bottom of the net.

The Bucks never sniffed the lead after this as the Sixers went on a 13-2 run to start the fourth quarter, highlighted by two Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot threes and a T.J. McConnell and-one. After a brief surge by Milwaukee to get the lead down to eight, the Sixers went on a 9-0 Run capped off by a Dario Saric dagger three pointer.

Dominance in the Paint

The Sixers were able to beat the Bucks tonight not only on the back of a solid fourth quarter, but also a stupendous advantage scoring inside the paint. The Sixers outscored Milwaukee 62-32 in this area.

JoJo was a freak all game that the Bucks had little answer for with the exception of a good stretch of defending by Thon Maker. The other Sixers big men Amir Johnson and Trevor Booker also made their presence felt combining for 12 points and 8 rebounds. Ben Simmons efficiency driving to the hoop did not hurt either. All in all a good night inside the lane for Philadelphia.

The TLC Game

The Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot experience this season has been disappointing. His three-point  shot has just not achieved anything close to consistency. He has certainly regressed to some degree in his second year. Every once in a while he shows flashes of that three-and-D rotation player the Sixers need to back up Robert Covington in the rotation, but it just does not show itself enough.

Heading into tonight’s game, I was not positive about the possibility of Timmy rising to the occasion in the absence of Redick and Bayless. But he definitely surprised the heck out of me. His fourth quarter saw two three-pointers find the bottom of the net. He also made hard and fast drives to the rim.

Most impressive to me, though,was how he guarded Eric Bledsoe. From the eye test, TLC gave him the most trouble out of all the players asked to step into a bigger role tonight  In my opinion, he earned another start against Memphis even if Jerryd Bayless is available.

Time will tell if his Brett Brown agrees with me, but the coach had a quotable answer to a question from a French Media member, who was coincidentally in the building to cover Luwawu Cabarrot.

"“He is one of these players that continues to work and has not had a whole lot of opportunity. You know Boston I yanked him quick. I thought he was down. And I didn’t really go back to him and that is the life of a young player. It’s hard to find a rhythm. […] Yet he still remains positive. He still works. And tonight, with the demise of JJ and Jerryd Bayless, you know here he is. The kid responded. He attacked the rim, he made threes, he is one of our best “athletes” on the team and he is fearless.”– Brett Brown on Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot"

Sixers are Fire in January

The win for the Sixers pushed them a half game ahead of the Bucks and into 6th place in the Eastern conference because of a head to head advantage over Indiana. The victory also makes the 76ers 15-6 in January in the last two seasons. This year, the current dominance by the 76ers dates back to Christmas where they have really hit a stride ripping off 8 wins in 10 games. They will need to continue this stellar play against a full schedule until All-Star Break. Next up is a golden opportunity to win a fourth game in a row against a Memphis team still without their all-star point guard Mike Conley.

 Tweet of the Night:

The Sixers social media account continues to live up to its high standards by putting out an epic video featuring Dario Saric and some real live animals. Despite the language barrier, its clear that The Homie does not Fear the Deer.

Quick Hits:

• James Young made his 76ers debut tonight. He did not enter the game quietly. Right away he nailed a corner three. I hope to see him get some more run with J.J. Redick sidlined. Yes, I omitted Jerryd Bayless on purpose.
• T.J. McConnell continued his good stretch of games. He scored in double figures for the fourth straight game. He also added 7 assists and 2 steals. TJ’s contributions hardly go unnoticed by Philadelphia faithful, but the rest of the league should get to know what TJ is bringing to the court.
• Joel Embiid threw shade onto Milwaukee Bucks’s ownership group by geotagging his post game instagram post with “The Results U” in reference to Bucks owner taking a dig at the 76ers Process last year.

Next: 5 reasons Kemba Walker benefits the Sixers

Previous Recaps:

• W, Philadelphia 89 – Boston 80
• W, Toronto 111 – Philadelphia 117
• L, Philadelphia 103 – Boston 114
• W, Detroit 78 – Philadelphia 114
• W, Denver 102 – Philadelphia 107