Joel Embiid’s season-high 37 points leads Sixers’ 125-103 rout of the Trail Blazers
Guerschon Yabusele had a posterizing dunk over Portland's Deni Avdija during the Sixers' 31-point second quarter. The Sixers have now won four straight and 10 of their last 13 games.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Caleb Martin launched the pass to an in-stride Guerschon Yabusele, who then detonated his latest posterizing dunk on the Trail Blazers’ Deni Avdija.
That was the eye-popping moment of another big second quarter for the 76ers, which propelled them to a blowout 125-103 victory over the Trail Blazers Monday night at the Moda Center.
“It was definitely a good moment in the game, for sure,” Yabusele said. “As soon as he passed the ball, in this type of situation, ain’t no other way. You’ve got to dunk it. Either I get blocked, or I dunk it, so I was going aggressive.”
Yabusele scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the Sixers’ 10th win in their past 13 games, continuing to feast on struggling opponents and inching closer to a .500 record after a dreadful 3-14 start to the season. Former MVP Joel Embiid, meanwhile, finished with a season-high 37 points and nine rebounds, anchoring the Sixers’ largest margin of victory this season with aggressive drives to the basket with the ball in his hands.
The Sixers turned a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter into a 15-point advantage in the next frame, when Tyrese Maxey tipped the ball to himself and raced out to a fastbreak layup to make the score 58-43. That was part of a 23-point effort for Maxey, who earlier Monday was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for his performances in the Sixers’ wins at the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, and Utah Jazz.
That lead grew to 70-54 on a Maxey transition layup early in the third quarter, then to 103-82 when beautiful ball movement set up a Maxey corner three-pointer with less than nine minutes remaining.
Kelly Oubre Jr. also recorded a career-high eight steals (along with 15 points and five rebounds), which tied for the most by a player in a single game this season and spearheaded a Sixers’ defensive effort that racked up 36 points off 26 Trail Blazers turnovers.
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The Sixers continue this road trip with back-to-back games at the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, before playing at the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.