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.
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.
There’s one more game before Embiid’s return, and it’s in Phoenix on Monday night.