GRADES: Philadelphia 76ers 118, Minnesota Timberwolves 94
The Philadelphia 76ers secure a road win against Minnesota with a brilliant second-half performance.
The Philadelphia 76ers started their road trip in Minnesota with the normal starters despite Embiid being listed as questionable for back tightness.
Minnesota were without their star big man, Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Sixers were off to a slow start going for 0-7 until Harris made a shot over Anthony Edwards through contact for a 3-point play. The offense still seemed a stagnant though to find themselves down by six heading into a timeout early on. The offense did seem to get in shape after the timeout, the Sixers getting a one-point lead with less than five minutes to go in the first quarter. The Sixers lived at the line making 13 of 13 free throws while shooting 23.8 percent from the field in to end the quarter tied at 25-25.
Shake Milton was cold starting off the quarter and he was soon sent to the bench with two fouls. Tyrese Maxey scored six easy points while the offense was still struggling to keep it at a two-point game through five minutes in the quarter. A Simmons dunk put Philadelphia back in the lead after a mostly poor quarter with just less than four minutes left in the quarter. The Sixers picked up the pace late in the quarter to hold on the lead to end the half up by five.
Philly’s shots started sinking in the second half with the lead extending to 12 with 7:19 to play in the third before Minnesota called a timeout to try regroup. The defense also seemed to step up with a couple of forced turnovers leading to fast break points. Embiid also seemed to really find his rhythm in the third, making 6-of-7 from the field after only shooting 4-from-12 in the first half. The 76ers entered the fourth quarter up 88-74
The Sixers were doing very well defensively to begin the forth with special credit to Thybulle, who forced multiple turnovers through steals and deflections. This combined with their shot-making got the lead up to 18 early in the fourth. This was further extended to 21 after Tobias Harris dunked all over the rookie Jaden McDaniels. Some of the deeper bench players got the chance to close out the game and the Sixers secured a 118-94 win.
A. <strong>27 mins | 37 pts | 11 reb | 3 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 0 TO | 10-19 FG | 1-2 3PT| 16-18 FT | 3 PF | +/- +21 |</strong><p>Joel had a great game on both ends of the floor. Despite shooting poorly in the first half, he made up for it by drawing lots of fouls and making each of his first 16 free throws. He also started getting buckets in the third quarter and he finished on an impressive 37 points on only 27 minutes. A phenomenal performance from the big fella.</p>. C. Philadelphia 76ers. JOEL EMBIID
B-. <strong>26 mins | 11 pts | 4 reb | 7 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 4-10 FG | 0-0 3PT| 3-4 FT | 1 PF | +/- +18 |</strong><p>Simmons was good as any other night defensively. He made some great passes and was great getting up the floor in transition. He did miss a couple easy looks in the key but overall, a standard performance from the all-star. Still believe he isn’t playing as well as he can though.</p>. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS
B+. <strong>34 mins | 17 pts | 11 reb | 3 ast | 1 stl | 2 blk | 1 TO | 6-17 FG | 2-3 3PT| 3-4 FT | 0 PF | +/- +16 |</strong><p>Harris had a pretty standard game, doing particularly well defensively. He did well to score even though his field goal percentage wasn’t great at 35.3% . Tobias did his job and was key to this win. Let’s hope he carries on delivering and perhaps even takes it up a notch to solidify his case as an all-star.</p>. PF. Philadelphia 76ers. TOBIAS HARRIS
Philadelphia 76ers. MATISSE THYBULLE. B+. <strong>22 mins | 2 pts | 0 reb | 1 ast | 3 stl | 2 blk | 0 TO | 1-3 FG | 0-1 3PT| 0-0 FT | 1 PF | +/- +13 |</strong><p>Matisse was an absolute nuisance on the defensive end, especially in the second half. He worked hard to force multiple turnovers, most of which led to fast break points. If Matisse can just be a bit more careful with his fouls and shoot better from outside, we’re looking at a really good wing player for Philly. Let’s hope to see these developments. As long as he keeps the defense at this level, he’s still a key player for Philly.</p>. SF
B-. <strong>20 mins | 13 pts | 2 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 2 TO | 4-12 FG | 0-1 3PT| 5-6 FT | 2 PF | +/- +13 |</strong><p>Milton hasn’t been playing to the best of his ability over the last handful of games but this was a solid performance from the third-year guard. Whilst he wasn’t efficient, shooting 33.3% from the field, he did well to still put up 13 points in his 20 minutes. While I believe Milton should be converting just a couple more of his attempts, it was still a respectable contribution. Let’s hope he can return to the fine form he was in two weeks ago.</p>. SG. Philadelphia 76ers. SHAKE MILTON
The Sixers move on to play Indiana at 7PM ET on Sunday.
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