With *checks notes* one, two, three… four starters out against the only undefeated team in the NBA bubble, the Philadelphia 76ers looked to keep their core healthy and activate their bench.
The first quarter wasn’t as horrible as I had imagined it would be when I first found out who the starters would be for the Philadelphia 76ers. The reserves for the Sixers showed up against the Phoenix Suns, especially Mike Scott. He hit a 3 early on to set the momentum and kept it up from there. Scott looked as though he was gunning for a spot in the playoff rotation.
In the first half, the reserves exuberated a lot of hustle and aggressiveness which was assuring to see from the bench players.
After being off during the hiatus, and barely playing in the bubble, Kyle O’Quinn looked fresh and energized after all this time. He even had a triple-double alert following him around early, on but missed it by just one point.
At the beginning of the second half, rookie, Matisse Thybulle, got into foul trouble as he accumulated his fifth personal foul. He also received his first professional technical. This earned him a seat on the bench for a bit, which hurt a bit because Thybulle had been covering Devin Booker and Ricky Rubio so well.
Raul Neto came out in this game to make a statement, and he did just that. He took full advantage of the extra minutes this game and gave the Sixers the spark they needed, especially towards the end of the game.
With around three minutes left in this jumble of a game, the Suns finally created their distance from the Sixers. The momentum and reserve magic had fizzled out. Though it was not the ending that the Sixers wanted, it showed a lot of promise for the bench players as the playoffs near.