The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Hornets, as they were expected to. But it didn’t look like the beatdown that the title hopeful was supposed to put on one of the worst teams in the NBA.
The Sixers won by a score of 97-89 due in large part to a 33-point game from Joel Embiid. Tyrese Maxey was solid and Tobias Harris and Danuel House Jr. stepped up in the fourth quarter to secure the win. All-Star LaMelo Ball and other key Charlotte players were out. Philly was without its own handful of key role players.
Nick Nurse said to reporters after the game that the 76ers picked it up down the stretch. At the end of the day, Nurse is simply happy his team kept fighting and pulled out the win.
“The look and feel of tonight’s was a tough game — and that’s okay,” Nurse said. “Give them credit for battling. They kept getting energy by our missed shots, I thought. You could see them growing with confidence and flying around a little more. A 16-point fourth quarter defensively you could notice the difference in our energy level in that last quarter. I thought Tobias really sparked us there as well. Finally, somebody was scoring and we got some transition buckets. I was happy with our loose ball recovery tonight, we started knocking, a few guys dived on the floor, picking them up. So, it was not a thing of beauty but it was hard fought and the result is what we’re after.”
The 76ers and Hornets were each looking to secure a second win on the second night of a back-to-back. Charlotte was at home for both of its games while Philly flew in after securing a win against the Orlando Magic. Because of Embiid's mighty, imposing style of play, the Sixers were able to win. Terry Rozier and Brandon Miller had nice games but the man in the middle on the other side was simply too dominant on both sides.
Nurse didn’t sound all that concerned with how murky and discombobulated the 76ers were at the start of the game.
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think either team was that bouncy at the beginning.” he said. “It seemed like there was nobody playing in transition and nobody making threes on either end. It seemed like a half-court two-point shooting contest and it kind of stayed that way it was that kind of a grinder of a game.”
It was indeed a grinder of a game — the very first one this season where both the 76ers and their opponents each failed to reach 100 points. Since the Hornets had a game the prior day and were without key players of their own (including their best one), it's tough to chalk the Sixers' less-than-ideal performance to fighting an uphill battle. The weaker team was doing the very same. Fortunately for them, they avoided an embarrassing defeat and extended their winning streak to five.
The 76ers will now have a rest day before taking on the San Antonio Spurs back at home.
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