GRADES: Sixers top Pacers with all-around dominance

The Sixers broke a streak of subpar and disappointing games as they dominated the Pacers in Tobias Harris’ absence.

The Philadelphia 76ers started off on a ridiculously good foot tonight, pushing heavily on the offensive end. Seth Curry displayed just how great this half of basketball would be by hitting a triple on his first shot of the game.

Mike Scott started for Tobias Harris who is recovering from a right knee contusion that occurred on Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks. At first glance, I hated this decision, but it dawned on me that having both Scott and Danny Green on the court at the same time would make it easier for Ben Simmons. It would add even more to the spacing, which we saw later on.

A strong night from the bench and Joel Embiid’s MVP presence carried the first-place Sixers to a dominant victory.

The bench FINALLY looked like they did at the start of the season. They were able to extend the lead with no starters on the court, which is a huge advancement for the Sixers. This is especially huge due to the fact that everyone played an excessive amount in Saturday night’s overtime loss. The bench ended the half with the same amount of points as the starters, 36.

It’s great to see that Shake Milton is finding his rhythm again. He ended the half with 15 points and +17 on the court. This all makes sense as it’s the anniversary of his career-high 39 point game against the Clippers.

With an 8-0 run by the Pacers to start the second half, who other than the big man himself, Joel Embiid, to quickly break that up by scoring five points himself. Embiid also now has 20 double-doubles in just 29 games.

Not only was the future MVP killing it on offense, but he also guarded Domantas Sabonis so well that it seemed like there was a brick wall surround him at all times.

Mike Scott looked similar to his old self this game. He ended the game with 11 points which included shooting three for three from beyond and four for four from the field. Most interestingly, he secured four steals, which is his caree -high.

The Sixers’ next game is Wednesday, March 3 against the Utah Jazz at 7 PM E.T.