RECAP: Philadelphia 76ers 109, Los Angeles Clippers 105
The Philadelphia 76ers earned a huge win on Monday night, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 109-105 in Los Angeles. The win snapped a two game losing streak for the Sixers.
Whew. What a huge win for the Philadelphia 76ers. Multiple times in the fourth quarter this game looked like it may get out of hand in the Los Angeles Clippers favor. However, the 76ers kept fighting and finally closed out a game.
The 76ers three-headed monster of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Robert Covington combined for 85 (!!) of the Sixers 109 points tonight. Embiid finished with 32 points and 16 rebounds in a career-high 36 minutes played (!!), Simmons added 22 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, and Covington showed every 76er fan why he is about to get PAID with 31 points and six rebounds, including seven points in the final minute of play.
For the Clippers, Blake Griffin dropped in 21 points in the first half alone, but only finished with 29 for the game. Lou Williams *please come home sweet Lou* torched the Sixers for 31 points of his own on five three balls made.
The Philadelphia 76ers trailed in this one 95-100 with just over two minutes left, before tying it on a Joel Embiid layup assisted by Ben Simmons with 1:18 left to play. Willie Reed hit a free throw for the Clips to put them up by one with 45 seconds left, before Covington drilled a go-ahead three-pointer to give the 76ers the lead for good. With the victory, the 76ers improved to 7-6 on the season.
A+. 37 mins | 22 pts | 12 reb | 4 ast | 1 stl | 1 blk | 5 TO | 9-14 FG | 0-1 3PT| 4-6 FT | 5 PF | +7 +/-| <strong>Summary:</strong> It was truly a great performance from Simmons tonight. He came out with a mindset to get to the rim and dunk on the entire Clippers’ organization, which he did effectively. Simmons was excellent down the stretch in handling the ball and getting to the basket as well, which was huge to keep the 76ers in the game.. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS
Philadelphia 76ers. JOEL EMBIID. A+. 36 mins | 32 pts | 16 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 1 blk | 4 TO | 11-20 FG | 1-5 3PT| 9-16 FT | 4 PF | +23 +/-| <strong>Summary: </strong>This was easily JoJo’s best game of the young season. The Process now owns real estate in DeAndre Jordan and Willie Reed’s heads, as he exposed them all night long down under. Jordan fouled out, and Reed couldn’t keep up with Embiid to save his life. He was a team-high +23 in 36 MINUTES PLAYED!! This could be a huge game for Embiid’s confidence after a rough stretch of games to start the season. C
A+. 36 mins | 31 pts | 6 reb | 4 ast | 4 stl | 0 blk | 2 TO | 9-12 FG | 5-8 3PT| 8-8 FT | 3 PF | +10 +/-| <strong>Summary:</strong> This man is going to get paid. Robert Covington turned in an all-star caliber performance tonight, winning the game for the 76ers down the stretch with his go-ahead three and huge free throws. RoCo continues to shoot the lights out from three and turn in great performances on both sides of the ball, game after game.. SF. Philadelphia 76ers. ROBERT COVINGTON
SG. Philadelphia 76ers. JJ REDICK. C+. 36 mins | 10 pts | 2 reb | 6 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 3-10 FG | 1-7 3PT| 3-3 FT | 4 PF | +3 +/-| <strong>Summary: </strong>You just know JJ wanted to have a much better homecoming performance than he had tonight. Though he struggled to shoot the ball, Redick did contribute 6 assists. Look for him to bounce back Wednesday.
PF. Philadelphia 76ers. DARIO SARIC. F. 34 mins | 2 pts | 3 reb | 2 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 1-8 FG | 0-5 3PT| 0-0 FT | 2 PF | -2 +/-| <strong>Summary:</strong> This was The Homie’s worst performance since being inserted into the starting lineup this season. Dario had no rhythm and looked out of place on offense all night, while struggling to contain Blake Griffin on the other end.
Three-Point Shooting/Bench Woes
This wasn’t a good game by any stretch for the Philadelphia 76ers from three-point land. The team shot just 7-32 (21.9%) from behind the arc, with 5 of those coming from the hands of Robert Covington.
Similarly to the Sacramento Kings game, the Sixers got little-to-no bench production, as Amir Johnson, T.J McConnell, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Justin Anderson combined for just 12 points off the pine.
Other than those glaring and obvious two negatives, this was a huge win for the Philadelphia 76ers on the road. Joel Embiid looked like rookie year Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons baptized Lou Williams twice, and Robert Covington just kept nailing threes.
For the 76ers, they take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night in the exact same building they just beat the Clippers. The game against the Lakers will wrap up the west coast road trip for the team.
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