By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Golden State Warriors and ending their longest losing streak of the season, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Portland Trailblazers in South Philly tonight. Portland weathered an early Sixers scoring spurt to beat them 119-102.

Philly found their offensive rhythm early in this game as they were able to hit their shots early in this contest. That allowed them to get out to an 11-point lead over a tired Trailblazers squad who played last night. Andre Drummond (25 points and grabbed18 rebounds in this contest) played his best game of the season so far, he was able to get rebounds and create multiple possessions for the Sixers that they were able to cash in on.

When Drummond plays like this, Philly is a hard team to compete with. A paint defender and consistent rebounder is what they have been missing throughout most of the season. He will get plenty of opportunities to prove himself now that Joel Embiid has been shutdown for the rest of the season. In addition, when he is putting points on the board that is a bonus for Philly who needed all the points he could score to stay ahead of Portland.

Despite Drummond’s scoring explosion Portland was able to weather the storm and erase the Sixers 11-point lead. The duo of Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe combined for 54 of Portland’s 119-points. Philly had no answers for them and Simons was able to hit timely buckets to keep his team ahead in this game, especially from the three-point line where he made six/11 three-pointers in this contest. That was the biggest difference maker in this contest. He was able to make the shots his team needed, and the Sixers went cold late in the game.

Tyrese Maxey left this game with a back contusion and that added to the number of injuries the Sixers have been dealing with. Maxey has also been dealing with a sprained finger on his left hand. Without Maxey someone will need to step-up and bear the rest of the scoring load that has been Quentin Grimes the last few games. Grimes has proven to be one of the biggest steals of the trade deadline. He will have to do a lot more if Maxey misses considerable time, and one of them will be creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Grimes could earn himself a lot of money next season if he can show more of his bag without Maxey in the lineup. The Sixers should also look at calling up Judah Mintz who has been killing it in Delaware for the Blue Coats to fill Maxey’s spot as well.

Philly will now prepare to face the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night for the first time this season. They will need to cash in on the high-percentage shooting opportunities created off their ball movement, limit their turnovers, and force Minnesota to take well contested shots and grab the rebound. Implementing these things should put the Sixers in a great position to win their 22^nd game of the season and gain some much-needed momentum as the season ends.