Joel Embiid and the Sixers hold off the Blazers until the end

Philly continues to fuel the road trip with its fourth straight win. This time, it was the Blazers who paid the price for the Maxey-Harden-Embiid trio’s seventh loss in nine games.

The Sixers and Joel Embiid quickly made an 11-2 start. The Cameroonian, who scored 10 of his team’s first 15 points, then made way for his leader Tyrese Maxey to record three consecutive baskets and widen the gap at the end of the first movement (12-26).

It quickly jumped to +20 after an 8-3 for Montrezl Harrell and a dunk from Matisse Thybulle (20-40). James Harden and Joel Embiid then did what it took to protect it until halftime and put Portland in a little more trouble (34-57).

We had to wait for the locker room to come back to see Portland finally activate. The Sixers managed to hang on early (63-75) before going on a 14-0 run, fueled by Nassir Little and Damian Lillard, who offered himself a dunk in the pass. After Shake Milton’s third-quarter buzzer beater, anything was possible for the A-14 locals (65-79).

Two 3-pointers from Georges Niang made things difficult, but Chauncey Billups’ troops didn’t give up. Anfernee Simons answered and Damian Lillard followed with a 3-pointer, a serve and three free throws for Jusuf Nurkic and Jerami Grant (86-95).

Anfernee Simons’ two-pointer put the Blazers down 7 with just over three minutes left before Philly chose to regain control late in the game, with first Tyrese Maxey and then Harden-Embiid ruling the day. -day’s work and give the Sixers a 105-95 win.

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– The Blazers’ disastrous start. 34 points scored at halftime, awkward shooting percentage, no rhythm… It’s interesting, I wonder if the players from Portland could have choked so much in the first half. More regrets about the result, but the natives unfortunately started too far.

– The Sixers are standing. The road trip was going to be dangerous, but Philly managed to brilliantly manage each stage to maintain their place in the Top 3 in the East. With the Nets’ fresh loss in Phoenix, Doc Rivers’ troops have widened the gap with the rest of the pack. The duel between the Sixers and Brooklyn promises to be a spark next Wednesday.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Joel Embiid. As the boss of the team, he got the team on the right track from the start to make things easier in this match and was also present at the end to calm the hopes of the last opponent. A pretty clean match on his part.

✅ James Harden. A nice triple-double that underscored the importance of Tyrese Maxey’s role in the creation as he started off the bench. Despite losing 5 balls, it was a solid match.

⛔️ Portland Pin 1-5. We start with Damian Lillard, who has been hot shooting but wasted too much time on 6/21 shooting and 6 turnovers to hope to change the trend in his team’s favor. In the 5th post, Jusuf Nurkic did better with a dismal 2/10 shooting. The anti-Embiid weapon was sent back to his studies.

NEXT

Portland (21-23): The Blazers will host the Lakers this Sunday (3 p.m.).

Philadelphia (28-16): The Sixers will finish their five-game road trip on the Sacramento floor this Saturday (4:00).