Philadelphia 76ers use electric fourth quarter comeback to beat the San Antonio Spurs as Jimmy Butler sits second game straight.
The highly competitive, back and forth game began with the Philadelphia 76ers taking an early lead 13-3. The lead did not persist as San Antonio held a one-point lead, 35-34, at the end of the first quarter.
The game remained back and forth throughout the second quarter as both teams were shooting the ball well and defense seemed to evade the game. At halftime, Philadelphia led 67-64.
The third quarter was mostly the same as the teams traded baskets while playing both good offense and limited defense. San Antonio held a seven-point lead before Philadelphia closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run bringing the score all even at 96 entering the fourth.
The game changed in the fourth quarter. Brett Brown expressed his frustration with the defense during the break and Philadelphia responded. The two teams played much more focused the rest of the way. San Antonio continued to shoot well, but their shots were contested. As for Philadelphia, they simply rode Joel Embiid to begin the quarter as he scored nine of his 16 straight Philadelphia points.
With six minutes remaining in the fourth, San Antonio held a one-point lead before they went on to score 10 in a row in just over three minutes to get an eight-point lead. A Marco Belinelli three that felt so reminiscent of his time with Philadelphia last year led to a timeout. From there, Philadelphia made their run:
Ben Simmons drove the lane and scored, Embiid blocked DeMar DeRozan, Landry Shamet drained a three in transition. The next possession was a missed three by San Antonio which Simmons grabbed the rebound, drove the lane, then settled the offense before hitting J.J. Redick coming off a screen where he drilled the three-and-one. Philadelphia, now with a one-point lead, held it until a Wilson Chandler block of DeRozan ultimately sealed the Sixers win.
Philadelphia picked up the big win at home to move them to 4-1 on this daunted mid-season stretch. Moving ahead, Philadelphia will have to travel to Denver to play the Nuggets.
An interesting note to watch for Denver: they will be on the second of a back-to-back, but a skirmish resulting in players leaving the bench might mean both Gary Harris and Nikola Jokic could potentially be returning from a suspension as perhaps Jimmy Butler will be returning from injury, several things to monitor in the coming days.