The Philadelphia 76ers headed down to the “most magical place on Earth” to end 2020 with a BANG and extinguish the previously undefeated Orlando Magic.
The Philadelphia 76ers came out blazing their way towards a victory. Ben Simmons shocked everyone and shut down the James Harden rumors with a corner 3 to create momentum. The fun didn’t end there though. The Sixers looked like they were working on their New Year’s Resolutions early as everyone was hitting shots from the floor and beyond.
Joel Embiid came out LARGE working it on offense as he spun around Nikola Vučević in the paint for an enormous slam and his signature flex afterward. Our guys ended up leading 38-22 at the end of the first while shooting 6 of 10 from beyond.
Just a few days after the Sixers picked up Matisse Thybulle’s third-year deal, he scored his first points of the season. Not only that but he hit two 3s in the first half. This sort of confidence and energy was executed by the whole team. Suddenly the only undefeated team in the NBA (Magic) were down by 35 points at the end of the first half. Boy, was that a shoulders-down, dance around the living room kind of halftime.
Tobias Harris came out again tonight and showed why the Sixers are paying him megabucks. He shot the ball, especially from three, without hesitation. The Sixers were just raining threes, with the help of Seth Curry who seems to be fitting in with Philly quite nicely.
Finally, we got to give Embiid and the starters a break in the fourth quarter. The last 12 minutes belonged to the bench, which gave them a chance to show what they can bring to the court.
Crossing my fingers that the Sixers replicate this momentum when they return to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Charlotte Hornets for their first game of 2021.