The Philadelphia 76ers drop their second straight as the Utah Jazz pull out the victory 106-104.
The Philadelphia 76ers took the court with their cornerstone big man, Joel Embiid, back in the lineup only to see their franchise point guard, Ben Simmons, leave the game with a shoulder injury 10 minutes in.
In today’s version of a defensive matchup, Utah proved to be the victor on the back of solid rebounding. For much of the first half the game was back and forth. Philadelphia carried a three-point lead after the first quarter, 29-26.
In an otherwise untumultuous half of basketball, Simmons backed down Jazz defender Royce O’Neal only to hit his shoulder awkwardly and force him to miss the remainder of the game. Current word is that Simmons suffered a minor AC joint sprain and is expected to be reevaluated in Denver.
The second quarter maintained the back-and-forth nature as Utah claimed a two-point lead entering the half, 58-56.
The third quarter is when Utah decided to open the game up. Behind great defense, and some poor shooting by Philadelphia, Utah built out their lead to 11. A 12-2 run led by Donovan Mitchell sparked the difference entering the fourth quarter with a score of 73-84.
The fourth quarter lead by the Jazz seemingly proved too much for Philadelphia. Without Simmons running the point, the quarter consisted of a slower pace and a barrage of Embiid post-ups. After back-to-back possessions resulting in four consecutive made free throws by Embiid, the Jazz only led by two-points, 103-101.
However, that lead would only extend as Bojan Bogdanovic came down the next possession and buried a three-pointer in what would prove to be the game-winner.
Philadelphia will look to bounce back Friday in Denver as they have dropped the last two on their West Coast swing.
Unfortunately, they will probably be doing so without their All-Star point guard, Simmons.