By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to get back in the win column after falling in a thriller to the Phoenix Suns. They faced the well-rested Milwaukee Bucks. Who played like it as they opened up the flood gates from deep on Philly and killed them 124-117.

The Bucks were able to jump on the Sixers from the opening tip off. They were able to hit their first five shots. Philly on the other hand was building a house of bricks. They couldn’t hit anything because of that Milwaukee was able to push their lead to 21. That lead was solidified by them shooting 61% from beyond the arc.  Philly had no answer for the three-point shooting of the Bucks.

Their three-point shooting negated another dominating performance by center Joel Embiid. He did all he could to keep his team in the game. He scored 15 of his 24-points by half-time. He also took on the challenge of guarding forward Giannis Antetokounmpo who was held relatively in check. He scored 27-points. However, he had to work for every point and struggled at times when Embiid was on him.

Unfortunately for the Sixers they were not able to keep everyone else in check.  Forward/Center Bobby Portis killed them. He scored 23-points and hit five three-pointers. The Sixers had no answer for him. They missed the length of Ben Simmons. They hope to have him back for the second game of this match-up.   Without him there to make it difficult on their shooters. Their perimeter defense fell apart.  The Bucks shooters were able to hit all types of perimeter shots, wide-open and with hands in their faces. It didn’t matter what Philly threw at them Milwaukee played like a team that did not have a tough game last night.

On Sixers defensive effort, “Doesn’t matter who was in or out, we got to defend better,” said Sixers Head Coach Doc Rivers.

The scheduling of the first game of this two-game match-up did Philly no favors. However, they will need to get it together and figure out a way to hold Milwaukee in check for the next game on Saturday afternoon. The number one seed in the Eastern Conference hangs in the balance and the Sixers need to play like it.