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.
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.
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.