Philadelphia took the game against Memphis 110-105
Harden and Embiid were the leaders of the 67ers
The philadelphia sixers they came back this Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies (110-105) a game in which they were behind on the scoreboard until there were forty seconds left for the final honk. For the Sixers, this is their fifth win in a row and their 17th win in 23 games against Western Conference teams. Before the game, the Wells Fargo Center honored Mac McClung, winner of dunk contest at All-Star and that he rang the bell for the champions from the center of the track although he did not get dressed later.
James Harden (31 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists) and Joel Embiid (27 points, 19 rebounds and 6 assists) led the locals especially in the final moments. For the Grizzlies, Desmond Bane stood out with 25 points and 8 rebounds while Ja Morant had a difficult shooting night (15 points on 3 of 16 attempts). The Spanish Santi Aldama contributed 6 points and great actions for the Grizzlies but had problems with fouls.
The Grizzlies presented the Sixers with a very physical game, something common in Taylor Jenkins’ team and that made Doc Rivers’ men uncomfortable. That intensity reached such a point that Harden faced Dillon Brooks after a contact a few minutes after starting. A 52.4% shooting from the field shot Memphis, who had an unleashed Bane and who went up to 19 points in the first quarter with a huge 4 of 5 on three-pointers. The Grizzlies came to double Philadelphia on the scoreboard after seven minutes (12-24). None of the Sixers’ outsides found inspiration from the perimeter going a poor 3-of-9. With a hard-hitting 22-37 the first chapter was finished despite the fact that Embiid played the 12 minutes.
Not everything was offensive success in the Grizzlies since an excellent defense was also reflected in the light. Thus, the visitors reached 17 rental points in the second period. In addition, Jaren Jackson Jr. put a spectacular block on Embiid and reflected the authority of his team protecting the rim and also the frustration of the MVP candidate, who was not close to his usual numbers at that time. The road to the basket was closed for the Sixers, who accumulated nine consecutive attacks without scoring. Rivers called a timeout and there was a notable turnaround with an 8-0 run before going to the locker room. In any case, a triple on the board by Jackson Jr. left the game in 47-59 at rest.
At the restart, Philadelphia quickly managed to get below the psychological barrier of ten points, although Memphis continued to move comfortably. Embiid got his own particular revenge: He handed Jackson Jr. the second-quarter block back and followed it up with another on Bane. In addition, the center began to increase his production with 10 points in the third quarter. Despite this, Memphis maintained its dominance on the scoreboard at 75-81 going into the final period.
In the denouement, Embiid and Harden assumed their responsibility, who only in the last period added 8 and 13 points, respectively. They were joined by an excellent Tobias Harris, decisive with 10 of his 20 goals when he burned the ball the most. In Memphis it was the turn of unexpected players like rookie David Roddy, who led a 0-6 run that made us think about the sentence with a 86-97 with 6.07 left to play. The Sixers responded with a 7-0 run fueled by bullying from Embiid plus 3-pointers from Harris. It was precisely he who returned the initiative to the Sixers from the perimeter (106-105) with only forty seconds left. Harden by then had already shown that there are no impossible baskets scoring three from the corner and finishing possession with two men on top. The confidence of the locals grew and they canceled Memphis, unable to score any of the three shots they had to tie in their last attack (two from Bane and one from Jackson Jr.). With a controversial final and a double technical foul on Embiid and Brooks, Harris sentenced from the free kick.