Sixers show resiliency in their most gratifying win of the season
Reserves Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, Furkan Korkmanz and Dwight Howard all stepped up to help Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons in Joel Embiid's absence.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A defining moment for the 76ers occurred inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse Sunday in Indianapolis after they trailed the Indiana Pacers by 16 points with less than nine minutes left.
The Sixers were playing without three-time All-Star center Joel Embiid for the fifth time this season. But the story didn’t end up being about Embiid’s absence leading to another double-digit deficit. It was the Sixers’ resiliency in rallying back to post their most gratifying win of the season.
The Sixers had been 0-4 this season in games Embiid missed. Up until that moment in the fourth quarter, theyseemed destined to slip to 0-5. The Sixers went on a 6-0 run, forcing the Pacers to call a timeout with 6:38. But things only got worse for Indiana. From that point, the Sixers closed out the game on a 25-6 run, boosting the team’s confidence with a 119-110 victory.
“It was just resilience from the whole group,” said Tobias Harris, who finished with a season-high 27 points.
Without their best player, the Sixers needed to find energy from various players. They got it from reserves Matisse Thybulle (8 points, 4 steals, 2 blocks), Furkan Korkmaz (17 points), Tyrese Maxey (9 points, 3 assists), and Dwight Howard (11 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks). Also, starting guard Ben Simmons had a season-high 21 points along with 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.
“We know that there’s going to be games that we don’t have Joel,” Harris said. “We had to figure it out and find a way.
“I thought this was a great game to do that and really look each other in the eye and know that can hold each other accountable out there on the floor.”
The Sixers have the Eastern Conference’s best record of 15-6. They have a 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place Brooklyn Nets, but they’ve looked more like a sixth- or seventh-place team on the nights Embiid doesn’t play.
That was hard to argue in their blowout road losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers (by 24 points on Dec. 27) and to the Detroit Pistons (by 15 points on Jan. 25) without Embiid. Two days before that loss in Detroit, the Sixers had ridden a 33-point, 14-rebound, 2-block effort from Embiid to a four-point road win over the Pistons.
“It’s not rocket science,” Harris said. “We are a better team with Joel Embiid on the floor. But for the nights he does have to rest his body and get himself at 100%, we have to figure out our flow and how we are going to play out there.
“So it’s just a bit of an adjustment. But [Sunday night] was a good step to that. We know we struggled on the floor without him.”
The Sixers realize Embiid’s sheer presence elevates each of their games. Players are more open in the perimeter to take shots due to the attention he receives in the paint. His defensive presence also makes it tougher for opponents to attack the rim.
“I think it’s the most gratifying [win] for the players, for sure,” coach Doc Rivers said. “But I think we had a couple of them so far.”
With Embiid, the Sixers knocked off the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 27. He also had led them to home wins over the Boston Celtics on Jan. 20 and 22. Before beating the Pacers (now 11-9), those contests stood as the only victories over teams with winning records.
“There are some many more [games to come],” Rivers said. “I hope we are talking about gratifying wins all year. I mean, that’s the plan. So there’s so much more to do.”