By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Golden State Warriors in a thriller last night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Milwaukee Bucks tonight for the second time this season. Philly was able to stave off a late Milwaukee comeback attempt thanks to a scoring explosion from Paul George, which helped them beat the Bucks 116-101 extending their win streak to three games.

The Sixers once again found their offensive rhythm early in this contest and George (20 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and had 5 assists) was able to hit his first few shot attempts and that really set the tone for the Sixers. Before the Bucks could even settle into the game they were down by double digits and Philly had caused 11 turnovers as well. This team looks better on the defensive end where his length and ability to shut down the opposing team’s best scorer turns them into a top three defensive team in the league. When he is not out there, they look like one of the worse defensive teams in the association.

When the Sixers needed it most after playing last night their bench really came to play, scoring 61 points (the second highest output of the season) in this game. This was the best game the second unit has played this season, and it was thanks to Quentin Grimes (22 points) and Jabari Walker (18 points and made 4/8 three-pointers in this contest) who led the second unit.

Grimes is one of the leading candidates for the Sixth Man of The Year award and he really showed it tonight, Milwaukee had no one available who could make it difficult on him. He was the leading scorer for tonight’s game and has turned into one of the most dependable scorers on the squad, and if he continues to play like this the Sixers should re-sign him right now.

Despite the scoring explosion from George, Grimes, and Walker the Bucks were still able to cut the Sixers 20 plus point lead to nine late in the fourth quarter. They deserve a ton of credit despite not having Giannis Antetokounmpo out there, Milwaukee still made the Sixers work to win this game and fought throughout the second half. Bobby Portis (22 points), Kevin Porter Jr. (20 points), and Myles Turner (19 points) combined for 61 of the Bucks 101 points. Portis has become the second-best player on Milwaukee’s team and with Giannis’ future in doubt he might be the new franchise cornerstone for the Bucks. They still are a team that cannot be taken lightly because they still can win games and have enough talent to beat any team in the NBA.

The Sixers were able to win this game thanks to three timely buckets from George late in the fourth quarter and a dagger four-point play from Grimes which sealed the game for them. This was a complete performance from Philly, one of their best of the season and Maxey did not need to put the team on his back tonight after his and Edgecombe’s heroics last night.

The Sixers will now prepare to face the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time this season on Sunday night. They will need to use their ball movement to create high-percentage shooting opportunities and cash in on them to stay ahead of the Lakers explosive offense, limit their turnovers, and communicate on the defensive end to eliminate easy scoring opportunities for the Lakers. Implementing these things into their game plan for Sunday will put them in great position to win their 14^th game of the season and extend their winning streak to four games.