GRADES: Milwaukee Bucks 119, Philadelphia 76ers 98

Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The Philadelphia 76ers traveled to Milwaukee for a Saturday night matchup on national television. The Sixers’ shooting eyes, however, remained home, as the Bucks cruised to a 119-98 victory.

If you were a hermit who was a Philadelphia 76ers season-ticket holder and only went to their home games and had no idea what they did when they played away, you would probably think no one could stand in the way of them winning the NBA championship, as they have the best home record in the NBA.

Conversely, if someone just watched the Sixers’ away games, you might wonder who they will pick in the draft lottery, as they have the same record on the road as the bottom-feeding New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Sixers ‘Jekyll and Hyde’-type personality reared its ugly head again on Saturday night, as the host Milwaukee Bucks breezed to a 119-98 victory over Philadelphia at Fiserv Forum.

The Bucks are in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 48-8 record. The 76ers are 35-22 and in fifth place in the East, a game-and-a-half behind the fourth-place Miami Heat.

With the loss, the Sixers are now 9-20 in away games (compared to 26-2 at home).

Philadelphia lost Ben Simmons early due to a re-aggravation of the back injury that forced him to miss Thursday’s game against Brooklyn. Considering the Bucks jumped out to a 12-2 lead before his injury, who knows if his return would have changed things.

The Sixers cut the margin to three points several times in the second period and, despite shooting 34 percent in the first half (4-for-19 on three pointers), were only down 56-50 at halftime. However, things went downhill quickly in the second half as Milwaukee held as much as a 25-point lead.

Despite adding two shooters at the trade deadline in Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks, the Sixers shot a miserable 35 percent for the games to the Bucks’ 52.7 percent. For a team supposedly built on defense, Philly did not show it Saturday.

Oddly, the only player on the 76ers to have positive in the plus/minus department was Matisse Thybulle, who posted a +5. Despite all the Bucks’ dangerous wings, he only played 10 minutes.

Furkan Korkmaz tied Embiid for team scoring honors with 17 points.

Backs are tricky, so we will have to wait and see how long Simmons will be out.

Up next for the 76ers is a home game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. They are one of the worst teams in the league, but the Sixers always have a problem with them.