GRADES: Philadelphia 76ers 129, Portland Trail Blazers 128
The Philadelphia 76ers remain undefeated, somehow.
On the road, without Joel Embiid, on the first leg of a four-game west coast swing, the Philadelphia 76ers showcased their resilience. The Portland Trail Blazers dominated the first three quarters. At one point the Blazers led by 21 points.
Damian Lillard was the main catalyst, scoring a buttery 33 points on 8-for-11 shooting from deep. The Sixers’ inability to maintain a strong scheme defensively didn’t help. There were too many screens gone under, especially with Kyle O’Quinn on the floor. Lillard was waltzing around screens into wide open triples.
The Blazers, if nothing else, have ample firepower on the perimeter. The team can make shots, and the Sixers struggled to contain that firepower for much of the game. It was the weakest the defense has looked — understandable to a degree, given Embiid’s absence.
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Portland put together a 15-0 run in the second, went bonkers for much of the third, then somehow entered the fourth up 10. They should have been up more than 10. Philadelphia, stabilized by Al Horford and Tobias Harris‘ timely buckets, managed to claw and scrap back into the contest.
The fourth quarter ended in the strangest, most twisted version of the current timeline imaginable. With 10.1 seconds left, Ben Simmons — BEN SIMMONS — nailed two free throws to give the Sixers a 126-125 lead. I repeat, BEN SIMMONS swished, not made, swished two clutch free throws.
On the other end, Anfernee Simons, who entered the NBA out of high school and still looks 15, hit buried a triple to give Portland a 128-126 lead. Brett Brown called timeout, obituaries were written, and the record book seemed destined to carry ‘4-1’ next to Philadelphia.
Then Brown, even the basketball genius, put Furkan Korkmaz in the game, a beloved figure who is definitely not the source of tremendous controversy among Sixer fans. No, of course I didn’t write about handing Korkmaz’s minutes to someone else. No, we didn’t record a podcast to double down on that take.
Korkmaz curled around an Al Horford screen, flying into the corner and hitting a three over the outstretched arm of Dame Lillard. He left Portland with 0.4 second, a futile shot ensued, and the Sixers advanced to 5-0 in a game they had no business winning.
FURKAN KORKMAZ. A. <strong>19 mins | 11 pts | 3 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 2 blk | 0 TO | 4-9 FG | 3-6 3PT| 0-0 FT | 1 PF | -6 |</strong><p>The game-winner nets Korkmaz the automatic <strong>A</strong>. He also went 3-for-6 from deep, volume and efficiency that will continue to earn good grace in Brett Brown’s eyes. And deservedly so. Korkmaz is making fans eat their words, for now.</p>. SG. Philadelphia 76ers
AL HORFORD. B+. <strong>30 mins | 25 pts | 5 reb | 7 ast | 1 stl | 2 blk | 1 TO | 12-24 FG | 1-4 3PT| 0-0 FT | 3 PF | +8 |</strong><p>This stat line feels does not feel like an Al Horford stat line. He poured in a team-high 25 points, but needed 24 shots. He hit 50 percent of his attempts, but without a single trip to the charity stripe. In the end, timely buckets, a 7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and staunch defense earns a high mark.</p>. C. Philadelphia 76ers
BEN SIMMONS. C. <strong>36 mins | 18 pts | 11 reb | 8 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 7-16 FG | 0-0 3PT| 4-5 FT | 3 PF | -10 |</strong><p>The counting stats look good, and Simmons’ free throws played a critical role in getting to Korkmaz’s game-winner. He deserves credit were credit is due. By that same token, after a 3-for-3 start, Simmons struggled to score and looked out of sorts on offense. He was also atypically meh on defense.</p>. PG. Philadelphia 76ers
RAUL NETO. A. <strong>6 mins | 4 pts | 2 reb | 2 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 0 TO | 2-3 FG | 0-0 3PT| 0-0 FT | 0 PF | +13 |</strong><p>Neto held the team’s highest plus/minus at +13, tied with <a rel=. PG. Philadelphia 76ers
TOBIAS HARRIS. B+. <strong>35 mins | 23 pts | 7 reb | 3 ast | 1 stl | 2 blk | 1 TO | 10-15 FG | 1-2 3PT| 2-2 FT | 4 PF | -4 |</strong><p>Another good Tobias game. He needs to take more the two three-point attempts a night, but his defense was respectable and his scoring was efficient. He has looked exceedingly comfortable in both non-Embiid games this season.</p>. PF. Philadelphia 76ers
So to recap, Simmons’ clutch free throws and Korkmaz’s near buzzer beater helped the Sixers to 5-0. Yeah.
Horford and Harris were standouts in the starting five. This was decidedly Ben Simmons’ worst game of the 2019-20 season, on both ends. Korkmaz was solid all night, even before his game-winner. James Ennis and Mike Scott also contributed valuable minutes, with Raul Neto making a brief and fruitful cameo.
Next. 5 gut reactions from Sixers' first week. dark
There’s one more game before Embiid’s return, and it’s in Phoenix on Monday night.