PLAYER GRADES: Portland Trail Blazers 129, Philadelphia 76ers 95
The Philadelphia 76ers rolled into Rip City with Joel Embiid not playing due to knee soreness. Was his replacement, Amir Johnson, going to be the NBA equivalent of Nick Foles and come in and lead the team to victory? Nope.
The Philadelphia 76ers went into their final game of 2018 with a lot going against them.
They faced a Portland Trail Blazers team very tough to beat on its home floor. Rip City features two small, high-scoring athletic guards in C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard who can score off the dribble. In case you have not watched a Sixers game this season, those kind of players torch the 76ers just about every time.
They did once again as McCollum, who had been in a slump, poured in 35 points (26 in first half) with Lillard chipping in 15 points. A bright spot for the Sixers was point guard T.J. McConnell netting 14 points, including nine in the first half, and Demetrius Jackson had 10 in 10 minutes of garbage time.
Coach Brett Brown removed the splinters from bench-warmer Amir Johnson and started him in place of Embiid, who, according to Brown, sat for mainly precautionary reasons.
The rest of the team played like they could use a day off as well, as the host Portland Trail Blazers rolled to a 129-95 victory over the Philadelphia in a game that was over basically by halftime. The Sixers fell to 23-14 on the season while Portland is now 21-16.
The Trail Blazers were playing their fourth game in six days while the Sixers were coming in with two days rest. However, it was Portland that was frisky from the start as the Sixers could not get anything going on either end of the floor.
By halftime, Portland held a 70-41 lead and the outcome was pretty much decided.
In the first period, Jimmy Butler scored as much as Embiid — zero — as he got off to another slow start that, unfortunately, he has made a pattern of late. Not surprisingly, the Sixers struggled offensively as Portland held a 31-20 at the end of the first quarter.
To breakdown the 76ers performance you probably need to turn to noted basketball expert The Grinch: Stink, stank, stunk.
F+. <strong>12 mins | 2 pts | 4 reb | 1 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 1-5 FG | 0-2 3PT| 0-0 FT | 3 PF | -2|</strong><p>If you expected Johnson to fill in for Embiid like Nick Foles has for Carson Wentz you were<em> sorely</em> disappointed. Starting for Embiid, Johnson made his first shot, and then proceeded to miss a driving layup and get beaten downcourt by massive Jusuf Nurkic, who got an easy layup, and it went downhill from there. His play was so awful that coach Brett Brown replaced him with T.J. McConnell to start the second half.</p>. C. Philadelphia 76ers. AMIR JOHNSON
C-. <strong>24 mins | 11 pts | 0 reb | 1 ast | 3 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 3-11 FG | 2-7 3PT| 3-3 FT | 1 PF | -24|</strong><p>Redick started the game hot and scored five points to help the Sixers to an 11-7 lead. The next three and a half quarters did not go well. Without Embiid to set screens, Redick struggled to get open. Having to deal with McCollum and Lillard defensively was a tough task for Redick as well.</p>. G. Philadelphia 76ers. J. J. REDICK
D-. <strong>26 mins | 5 pts | 3 reb | 6 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 2 TO | 2-12 FG | 0-2 3PT| 1-1 FT | 0 PF | -22|</strong><p>Without Embiid, the Sixers really needed Butler to have a big game offensively. He didn’t, which was a big reason the team really got crushed. Butler missed his first seven shots and never got on track. His normal defensive intensity was not up to his usual standards either. He did have six assists to avoid getting an F.</p>. F. Philadelphia 76ers. JIMMY BUTLER
Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS. C. <strong>25 mins | 19 pts | 3 reb | 3 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 2 TO | 7-12 FG | 0-0 3PT| 5-10 FT | 3 PF | -7|</strong><p>Portland showed Simmons no respect as his defender parked himself near the basket and dared him to drive to the hoop, as they knew Simmons would not attempt a jump shot (he did once, and missed). On a night of overall lackadaisical play, Simmons did stand out with his hustle and he pushed the tempo as much as possible, However, when the Sixers were still trying to hang in there in the first half, his poor foul shooting (missing four of his first six free throws) hurt.</p>. G-F
G. Philadelphia 76ers. T.J. MCCONNELL. C+. <strong>27 mins | 14 pts | 3 reb | 2 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 6-7 FG | 1-1 3PT| 1-2 FT | 1 PF | -38|</strong><p>McConnell was the basically the only rotation player, outside of Simmons, who looked like he came to play. Since no one else could make a shot, McConnell took it upon himself and scored nine first-half points. For a guy who averages about six points, McConnell had a tremendous game offensively. His team-worst -38, though, shows his play was not enough to stop Portland from rolling.</p>
With the Eagles making the playoffs at least local sports talk shows will be too busy with the Birds to comment much on this lackluster performance.
Next. Sixers' Player of the Week. dark
The good news for the 76ers is they get to celebrate New Year’s in Los Angeles, as they face the Clippers on Tuesday night at the Staples Center. It is a 10:30 PM E.T. start, so you might want to take a nap beforehand.