Philadelphia, Nov. 2 (U.S.): Seth Curry surged in the absence of Joel Embiid, scoring 23 points – including several late majors – to lead the Philadelphia 76ers short-handed to a 113-103 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers Monday night. .
Embiid, the team’s top scorer and four-time All-Star, was knocked out due to rest, the first game he missed this season. The 76ers were also without Tobias Harris (HSP), who was a late scratcher, and lost starter Danny Green in the third quarter to a tight hamstring, but not before he scored 11 points, The Associated Press reports.
“It was fantastic,” said 76ers coach Doc Rivers. “I was joking with Michael Rubin (co-owner of Philadelphia). I said, ‘You only had 105 million (dollars) not in the game tonight. It was just a good team effort.’”
It was the first of three games in four nights for Philadelphia, who had won three consecutive times. George Niang added 21 points for the 76th race.
“It was one of those games where I thought everyone did something to help us win the game,” Rivers said.
Norman Powell Trail Blazers led with 22 points. Damian Lillard scored 20 points and 10 assists, and CJ McCollum also scored 20 points.
“It’s a perfect trap match,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. “You let your guard down a little bit naturally, and you have men dying to play 25, 30 minutes. They jump in there and show that they want to have more minutes. This is exactly what happened.”
Niang’s three-point game broke the tie 86 times at the start of the fourth game and started a 14-4 76 streak that ended when Niang converted another three-point game after a foul from Lillard to make it 100-90 with 6:44 left.
“Obviously sometimes the shots just won’t get fired,” Niang said. “But you still have to go out and be aggressive. So I definitely wanted to do that in the second half. Two of them fell. Sometimes you get lucky when you drop some shots.”
Niang even had a few “Best Player! Best Player!” jingles that are usually reserved for Embiid in Philadelphia.
“Joel told me not to let that happen, again,” Niang joked. “The fans here are great and have welcomed me with open arms. I am so grateful.”
Portland withdrew at 104-101 four minutes before the end of Lillard’s corner kick, Philadelphia scored the next seven and was 111-101 ahead on Curry’s 3 pointer about two minutes before play, Curry then put the game away with a driving corner kick that put Philadelphia ahead 10 with 1:06 left.
Embiid, the often-injured Philadelphia big man, has vowed to be more consistent in the squad after playing in just 51 games last season — a factor that contributed to his second-place finish to Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets last season.
Embiid has averaged 21 points and 8.7 rebounds so far, and was replaced in the starting lineup by Andre Drummond, who had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Furkan Kokmaz earned 15 points to replace Harris, averaging 19.8 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Ben Simmons (for personal reasons) is still not with the 76ers, although he participated in the shootout again.
Lillard, who got off to a relatively slow start, finished a three-game winning streak with at least 30 points against Philadelphia. He struggled in the first half, losing 9 of 11 shots and 6 of 7 from a 3-point range, as Philadelphia entered the first half with a 54-53 increase. Lillard finished 7 of 20 from the field and 2 of 9 from a 3-point range.
I love Lillard
Philadelphia fans cheered Lillard during the introductions. Fans also chanted, “We want Lillard!” When he went to the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Lillard has been mentioned as the kind of player the 76ers would seek in return if they decided to trade Ben Simmons.
“City of Brotherly Love,” Lillard said, “Show the brother some love.” “I know what it is and what about it. I appreciate the love, I appreciate the respect they show, the desire or whatever.”
But Lillard said it was a Trailblazer.
Pelops said, “I wasn’t surprised at all. When they were saying we wanted Lillard, I’d say we also want him. I get it and I get it. Philly’s got a huge fan base. They don’t hold any punches, man. I’ve always appreciated that about this city.” “.
Hints
Trail Blazers: Robert Covington, who played with 76 goals from 2014 to 2018, was goalless in 19 minutes. … McCollum missed two free throws early in the third quarter, giving 76ers fans a free milkshake at a fast food restaurant as part of a popular group promotion. He missed his next attempt, too, later in this period. McCollum played in college near Lehigh. He said his college coach, Brett Reed, was present.
76ers: Will end the two-game season against the Trail Blazers on November 20 in Portland. …Green got 11 points. … Milton Chic scored 10 points.
the following
Trail Blazers: Host Cleveland Wednesday Night.
76ers: Host Chicago on Wednesday night.