The Sports Xchange
Nov 22, 2017
PHILADELPHIA -- Joel Embiid had 28 points and 12 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 101-81 on Wednesday night.
Ben Simmons added 16 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals for Philadelphia, which won for the fourth time in five games to improve to 10-7.
T.J. McConnell contributed 13 points off the bench for the Sixers.
Damian Lillard poured in 30 points for the Blazers, but Portland shot just 33.7 percent from the floor. It was the Blazers' poorest shooting night of the season, as well as their lowest point total.
It was also the fewest points the Sixers have allowed in a game.
Philadelphia scored the game's first 16 points and never led by fewer than eight the rest of the night.
When Portland (10-8) cut the gap to 64-55 on Lillard's 3-point play with 2:26 left in the third quarter, Embiid answered with six consecutive points, and his resounding block of Lillard's layup attempt with 2.2 seconds left in the quarter elicited a roar from the crowd.
The Sixers, ahead 70-57 at the end of the period, extended their lead to as many as 22 in the fourth quarter.
The Blazers missed their first 13 shots of the night, and Dario Saric had five of the Sixers' points in the game-opening 16-0 flurry.
Portland didn't score until Shabazz Napier hit a jumper from the left baseline seven minutes into the game, and was behind 26-14 at the end of the first quarter. It was the fewest points the Sixers have allowed in any quarter this season.
Philadelphia extended its lead to 35-18 early in the second quarter, but Lillard crammed three 3-pointers into a one-minute, 35-second stretch to cut the gap to 42-34 later in the period.
The Sixers stretched their lead to 50-37 by halftime, however, at which point Embiid had 14 points.
Lillard had 17 for the Blazers, but Portland shot just 28.9 percent in the first 24 minutes.
NOTES: Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers. ... Philadelphia G-F Ben Simmons entered the game averaging 18.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists. The only Sixer to average at least 18 points, nine rebounds and 7.5 assists for a full season was the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, who did it in 1966-67 and 1967-68. "That's amazing to me," Simmons said before the game. "But for me to see that, it makes me think, why I can't be one of the best players to ever play, or the best?" ... Portland F Al-Farouq Aminu missed his 10th straight game with a sprained right ankle. ... Philadelphia G/F Nik Stauskas sat out his seventh straight with an ankle sprain, and G-F Justin Anderson missed his third straight with shin splints.