The scoreboard read 125-109 in favor of the Philadelphia 76ers when the final buzzer sounded, but the hobbled Detroit Pistons kept it close on the strength of their 3-point shooting. However, that all changed in the third quarter to allow the Sixers to run away with it.
“It was very important,” said Ben Simmons. “They had a few guys who were just knocking down shots. Tony Snell had a few of them, but overall I think we did a good job.”
With the game deadlocked at 65 with 8:39 to go in the third, the Sixers took a lead and they did not look back. Their perimeter defense tightened up and Detroit was struggling to find any type of open look. It was the type of performance that coach Brett Brown can be happy with.
“I thought defensively in the second half we did a much better job of two things, finding the shooters,” said Brown. “I think there were only three threes in the second half. I thought for the most part, our game, we did a good job of boxing them out. I think they had six offensive rebounds for the game and they’re one of the elite offensive rebounding teams in the NBA. I thought those two things were the things that stood out the most.”
The third quarter started with Detroit opening on a 13-5 to tie the game at 65, but after that, the Sixers didn’t allow much and they then found a groove offensively, led by Furkan Korkmaz who scored 10 of his 21 points in the third quarter. It was a much-needed performance against an inferior opponent.
“I think that the group with Tobias was scoring at a high rate and frequently. Furkan came in and gave us some good contribution,” Brown added. “The 33 assists, the 12 turnovers, that’s an incredible ratio and Ben was 17 of those assists.”
Philadelphia needed a game like this one in the second half. They should be able to put away a team like this one and be able to run away with it.
“I think in the second half we started off and they got a little run late,” said Harris who led the way with 35 points. “They got some good looks at three, then we kind of buckled down and really limited them from the three-ball.”
The Sixers now turn their attention to a marquee Christmas Day game with the Milwaukee Bucks. [lawrence-related id=22040,22028,22026]