By: Kylan Watson
The Philadelphia 76ers were riding high as they faced the surging Milwaukee Bucks in a primetime match-up. The Sixers were able to use some hot shooting and great perimeter defense to stifle the Bucks offense. However, a late scoring flurry from the Bucks doomed the Sixers in overtime, as they fall 109-105.
Philly started the game off well. Unlike yesterday they were able to get what they wanted early on and dictate pace to Milwaukee. Whether it was from the paint or the perimeter, Philly dominated Milwaukee. They were hot from beyond the arc as they hit 31.5% of their threes. The length of Philly’s defenders bothered Milwaukee. As they shot 15.6% from three. They could not hit anything from the perimeter.
The Sixers were able to get out to a 14-point lead by half-time. They were able to use the hot shooting of Tobias Harris. Who once again had a strong night from the field. He scored 19-points and was big on the defensive end as well as he stifled Khris Middleton and made sure he was not a factor in this game.
Philly’s perimeter defense managed to stifle the Bucks offense throughout most of the game, but Milwaukee was able to comeback in the game because of some late mistakes by Philly which allowed them to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. Guard Donte DiVincenzo was the sparkplug for them. He scored 18-points. His defense forced mistakes by Philly. As he would steal lazy passes and get an easy dunk which sparked Milwaukee’s offense.
Both teams continued to trade punches through out the fourth quarter, and Milwaukee started making shots they were missing in the earlier quarters. The Bucks retook the lead on a late three-point shot by DiVincenzo. It took two three-pointers by guards Danny Green and Furkan Korkmaz to tie the game for Philly and send it to overtime.
In the overtime forward Giannis Antetokounmpo went on a personal 7-0 scoring run to put the game away for the Bucks. Who were able to pull it out late thanks to Philly going cold late in the game. The Sixers let a win slip away from them in this one.
On whether he was encouraged or discouraged by his team’s effort, “I don’t leave this game discouraged,” said 76ers Head Coach Doc Rivers.
They now must get it together as they prepare to face the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, and the New York Knicks on Sunday. The Sixers will need to get their perimeter defense together if they want to beat the Kings and the Knicks.
Kylan, based on what I saw Sixers could have beat Bucks with Embid. However he is injury prone. Who do we need to get to give us that 10-15 pts per game avg. We can not depend of Emibd.
I wouldnt say he’s injury prone. I think this most recent injury he landed wrong on his leg. He will be back, but in the meantime the team needs another guard who can run the offense and spell Simmons and a stretch forward who can play d. They might not be able to trade for that player. So the buyout market might be important for them.