The Philadelphia 76ers were on the ropes on Sunday night. They had their backs against the wall down by 20 and then down by 15 in the fourth quarter and they rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers 119-110 despite not having Joel Embiid.
They were led by Tobias Harris who continues to put together an All-Star season and they also got help from young reserves Furkan Korkmaz, Matisse Thybulle, and Tyrese Maxey.
“As we were able to cut it back down, it opened up the floor for other guys too and Furk was able to make some big shots and some big plays which is key because when you have it going, the defense keys in,” said Harris. “So now, guys get to get into the lane, Matisse a nice move in the lane.”
Korkmaz had 17 points with 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter. His efforts on offense were terrific and the team needed somebody to step up in Embiid’s absence.
“We didn’t start the game real well, but we figured out how to stop them, the zone defense really helped us,” said Korkmaz. “After one point, we came back in the game again, and then we were just playing out there. We were passing, moving, defensively, everybody was helping each other.”
The Sixers are a team that has been so reliant on Embiid despite the rest of the talent they have on the roster. They were 0-4 without the big fella entering Sunday night and they needed to be able to prove that they can win without him.
“Furkan was just phenomenal,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Just give them more confidence. We talked about it before the game, we said ‘guys, we got to believe, whenever Joel or Ben (Simmons) or someone misses, that we’re gonna win the game’. We got to go in with that thought. We talked about it, you can be down and you can keep fighting, you get to the fourth quarter, you win the game. Just think win the game in the fourth quarter and that’s what our guys did tonight.”
Harris then explained what Embiid does for the team and the amount of confidence he gives the rest of his teammates.
“We know as a group how talented we are,” said Harris. “It’s not rocket science we know we’re a better team with Joel Embiid out on the floor with us, but for the nights that he does have to rest his body and get himself at 100%, we have to be able to figure out our flow and how we’re going to play out there.”
The fact that Korkmaz was able to come out there and continue to produce and play at a high level is huge. The Sixers will be needing their second unit to continue to come up large as the season goes on and Sunday was a good example of that.
“That was a really big win,” Korkmaz added. “I’m happy the second made a big jump. The game came back to our hands. Of course, it feels great.”
The Sixers will finish up the road trip on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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