Sixers rally, beat Bucks for 10th win in 13 games
MILWAUKEE - The recent success of the 76ers has been due to several factors. The center play whether Joel Embiid is playing or not or whether the rotation involves Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor or Richaun Holmes has been just about dominating inside of late.
MILWAUKEE - The recent success of the 76ers has been due to several factors.
The center play – whether Joel Embiid is playing or not or whether the rotation involves Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor or Richaun Holmes – has been just about dominating inside of late.
T.J. McConnell has been the orchestrator of an offense that has been mind-bogglingly good lately. The team threw up 72 points in the first half Wednesday, its highest point total for a 24-minute stretch this season. Over his past five games, McConnell has accounted for 47 assists and only 12 turnovers, including 13 assists Wednesday as the Sixers won for the 10th time in 13 games, 114-109 over the Bucks.
Because of the outstanding ball movement, six players scored in double figures for the Sixers (17-27), led by Gerald Henderson's 20. Ersan Ilyasova and Dario Saric scored 17 each, while Noel collected 16 points and 13 rebounds. Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas added 11 each.
The key to it all the recent success of late, coach Brett Brown insists, is the team's defense. Despite giving up 68 points in the first half on Tuesday (but only 42 in the second in a comeback win against the Clippers) and 39 in the first quarter to the Bucks on Wednesday, the coach is exactly right. It isn't perfect all the time, and at times not very good, such as for the first 12 minutes against Milwaukee, but the Sixers find their rhythm and make it work when it counts.
When Jason Terry deposited yet another layup for Milwaukee early in the second quarter, the Bucks' lead grew to 10. They had made 20 of their 32 shots up to that point, most without much resistance from the Sixers. But after that Terry make, over the final 8 minutes, 56 seconds of the half, Milwaukee sank only four of its next 15 shots, and the Sixers blitzed them by scoring 39 and romping out to a 72-58 lead at the break. It was the most points the Sixers had scored in either half this season.
"That's not, at times, uncommon in the NBA (for teams to have a big quarter, like the Bucks' first)," said Brown. "The ebbs and flows and mood swings in NBA games are dramatic. It's not out of the ordinary for them to start like they did. For me, it was about not overreacting and declaring the obvious - it's got to start with our defense. It's a long game, and I felt like we got things settled and found a way to even it out, and then take some leads and finally hold on."
Astoundingly, the Sixers had 25 assists on 28 made field goals in the first 24 minutes. The ball moved everywhere and found whoever was open. The Sixers ran, moved and executed much the same way they have over the past 13 games. That became more sloppy in the second half, and the Sixers finished with 24 turnovers. Still, as they expect to do of late, they pulled it out down the stretch as Noel sank two foul shots for a 110-109 lead with 35.9 seconds to go, then upped it to 112-109 with a 12-footer off a broken play with 15.6 left.
It was similar to the game the two played only last week, also at the Bradley Center, when the Sixers got behind early, then methodically took it to the Bucks for the win.
In that game, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Joel Embiid dominated down the stretch to carry the team. Wednesday, he and Jahlil Okafor were back in Philadelphia resting knee injuries.
No worries, as Noel and Holmes capably handled the center duties on Australia Night, in honor of Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova.
"They're playing great. They're one of the hottest teams in the league," said Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd, whose team dropped to 21-24. "They've won with Embiid or with Embiid out. Coach has done a great job. They have always played hard and now they have some confidence. Embiid has given them the breath of winning and competing to win. I think it's become contagious through that locker room.
"With him out, maybe it might be a little bit different, but they've won with him out of the lineup. They're used to playing with him and without him, and that's another great credit to the coach of having those guys prepared."
So well so that they swept back-to-backs against two teams, in the Clippers and Bucks, that most likely will compete in playoff basketball in a few months, and did it without Embiid either night.
"This team is well-balanced and we're bringing a lot of tenacity, especially on the defensive end," said Noel. "I think it translates to offensive with getting transition buckets and guys are stepping up.
"I think the guidance that has come from coach Brown, and focusing on defense, then everything else comes into place. They were up early, we got the lead, then they came back, and we still found ways to get good, efficient shots. And it worked out for us."
Yet again. It is sort of becoming the norm.
@BobCooney76
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