By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers were riding high as they extended their win streak to six games. After rocking the Rockets on Wednesday night. They looked to break a depleted New Orleans Pelicans team.  They had a game on their hands, but thanks to a late offensive and defensive surge they were able to beat the Pelicans 109-107.

It looked good early on for Philly, they had it working on both sides of the ball and were dominating New Orleans. Guard Seth Curry (16-points) and center Joel Embiid (37-points) jumped on the Pelicans from the opening tip-off. By half-time they both combined for 39 of Philly’s 70-points. It didn’t matter who the Pelicans had on Embiid and Curry. They got whatever they wanted whether it was from the perimeter or the paint. They combined for seven threes. Curry in particular has had it working for the last few weeks as the season comes to a close. He will need to continue his hot shooting to make sure Embiid has maximum space to operate.

Despite the scoring of Curry and Embiid. New Orleans was able to mount a comeback mid-way through the third-quarter when the starters were resting. They turned up the heat on defense and forced a lot of turnovers from the second-unit. This propelled their offense and got them easy lay-up and three-point opportunities. They were able to use a 17-6 scoring run to take get a four-point lead over Philly.

When the starters re-entered the game in the fourth quarter, they were able to cut the Pelicans lead to one-point. It would take awhile for Philly to find their offensive footing in the quarter. However, forward Tobias Harris hit a late three-pointer to put the Sixers back on top, and they needed a late defensive stand to break the Pelicans.

On the win and how the team is playing, “Not well. We’re getting wins, but I don’t like how we’re getting them,” said guard/forward Danny Green.

The Sixers will now face the Detroit Pistons tomorrow night and will need another strong night on both sides of the ball if they want to keep the Pistons in check and push the win-streak to eight games.