By: Kylan Watson
The Philadelphia 76ers were riding high after beating the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. They faced the Houston Rockets who were looking to exact some revenge after being beaten by the Sixers last week. Philly used an offensive explosion to destroy the Rockets 111-91.
The Sixers jumped on the Rockets from the opening tip-off. They were able to hit their shots early in the game and Houston had no answers for them. Philly was led by Joel Embiid who scored 23 of his 31-points by half-time. This marked his seventh consecutive 30-plus-point performance of the season. He is now behind only Wilt Chamberlain for the franchise lead. He continues to put up some impressive numbers and the Sixers continue to rocket up the standings in the Eastern Conference.
On Joel’s 30-point scoring streak, “He plays hard, he plays his game, and he makes people look crazy out there,” said 76ers back-up center Andre Drummond.
He was not the only one though as Furkan Korkmaz got the start in the stead of Seth Curry who had a left ankle injury and missed this game. He took full advantage of his opportunity as he scored 12-points and hit two three-pointers. His playmaking ability has continued to be important for Philly throughout this season as he has been called to play the point-guard position because of injury and players dealing with multiple bouts with COVID-19. If he continues to round into form Philly could have a very deep bench unit with his playmaking abilities.
The Rockets continued to fight throughout the game, but they had no answers for the prowess of Embiid. They were led by Christian Wood (14-points) and Jalen Green (14-points) who combined for 28-points. Once again, the Sixers did not allow anybody else to beat them as they turned up the heat on the defensive end and stifled the Rockets offense.
The Sixers will now prepare to face the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. They will need to have another good defensive performance on the perimeter. If they want to stifle the Hornets backcourt and get their 24th victory of the season.
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