By: Kylan Watson
After beating the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Minnesota Timberwolves for the final time this season. Both teams traded blows in this contest, but thanks to three clutch buckets from Kelly Oubre Jr. Philly was able to beat Minnesota 115-103 and extend their win streak to two games.
The Sixers were able to get Joel Embiid back for this game and while he started this game off slowly, Philly was still able to find their offensive rhythm early in this contest. Paul George scored 23 points in this game and really helped stabilize their offense during pivotal points of this game. George has been Philly’s best player over the last few games. He is already the Sixers best defensive player and has become an important offensive engine once again as well. His ability to create his own shot has created multiple scoring opportunities for his teammates and himself. Also, if this version of George shows up in the postseason, then the Sixers will be a hard out in the postseason.
Despite the offensive explosion from George, Minnesota was able to take an early lead in this contest. Julius Randle (21 points) and Bones Hyland (21 points) combined for 42 of the Timberwolves 103 points and Philly could not slow either player down. Both were able to put points on the board at will. Philly had to turn up the defensive pressure which forced Minnesota to take harder shots, which slowed their offense down just enough for the Sixers to retake the lead and seal the game.
When the Sixers needed it most Tyrese Maxey (21 points), Kelly Oubre Jr. (21 points), and Joel Embiid (19 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and had 7 assists) were able to will their team to a victory. In the second half Embiid really upped his effort on the defensive end and made an enormous impact with his effort, this was not his best game of the season. However, his willingness to do the little things in this game helped the Sixers stay ahead of Minnesota in this game. This is a huge development for Philly because if Embiid can continue to do his damage and continue to be a force on the defensive end then the Sixers can go far in the playoffs.
Oubre Jr. was the MVP of this game as his three clutch buckets is what helped the Sixers win this game. Minnesota forced the Sixers to turn the ball over with their defensive pressure and scored off the mistakes. That took a double-digit lead to single digits and Oubre Jr. scored an and one lay-up and two corner three-pointers to seal this game for Philly. When he has his shot working the Sixers are a different team and now that he is fully recovered from his injury, he will be a difference maker for the rest of the season for them.
The Sixers will now prepare to face the Detroit Pistons tomorrow night, and they will need to limit their turnovers, win, or keep the rebounding battle competitive, stay connected to their defensive assignments, and continue to cash in on the high-percentage scoring opportunities created from their ball movement. Implementing these things into their game plan in tomorrow’s game will put them in great shape to win their 44th game of the season.