Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons are both rocking headbands and playing great defense and growing chemistry. 76ers keep winning at home and have a big road trip ahead.
No Place Like Home
The 76ers after their slip up against Cleveland have still dominated at Wells Fargo Center. They are now 13-1 at home this season. The 76ers had an absolute beat down of the Knicks last Wednesday night and then another one to the Wizards last Friday night. Both these games saw the bench get plenty of playing time when the Sixers were up by 30 points on the Knicks and 25+ points on the Wizards. JJ Redick was the hot hand for the Sixers vs the Kicks by having a 71.4% field goal percentage and connecting on 4 of 6 three pointers. JJ and Embiid lead the Sixers to a big win ending in a final of 117 to 91. The Wizards game all around was a great team win everyone that got to play did work and played well. The shooting by both teams was pretty poor the Wizards had a 40.2% FG and the Sixers only had a 43.9%. Then to end the home stand the Sixers got to play Memphis who they lost to earlier in the season in a close OT game when the team was short-handed from getting Butler from Minnesota. So, Philly was looking for a little revenge with their new team. Four out of the five starters played for 30+ minutes and carried the team to a strong defensive win in the end. The Sixers over their last three games have been able to hold their opponents under 100 points and were able to break 100 points themselves. Jimmy Butler came up Mr. clutch again in the 4th quarter by picking up 13 of his 21 points and also having some crucial defensive moments in the 4th quarter. Joel Embiid also has been able to have a double-double in 24 of the 25 games he has played so far this season. He is also one of the leading candidates for league MVP this year.
Headband of Brothers
Butler and Simmons started to wear headbands together and are kind of using the look as a chemistry thing and having fun playing together. Since Butler has joined the Sixers Ben Simmons has been outstanding he has played such a great two-way game with Butler and Embiid and having confidence with his shooters around him. The flaw the Sixers have had this season so far is being able to close out games convincingly and these past three games at home have been pretty convincing behind great team defense which is what Brett Brown strives his system to be built on. A quote from Brett Brown about the relationship that has formed between Ben and Jimmy was “I’ve asked Jimmy to put Ben under his wing, and really help Ben be all he can be defensively.”
Short Road Trip Ahead
The Sixers now find themselves on the road against two strong teams this week in the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday and Blake Griffin and the Pistons on Friday, before they get to go back to Wells Fargo Center for another 3 game stretch. The Toronto Raptors are looking very dangerous this year with Kawhi and Lowry and will be a big test for this Sixers team that has been starting to gel together and getting the job done at home. This match up on Wednesday could very be a little preview to a potential Eastern Conference Final series this year in the Playoffs. The Sixers already lost to the Raptors earlier in the season at the end of October, but this was with the team they started the season with when Dario and Covington were still here. The team stats compared to each other this season are very close together with the Raptors holding a slight advantage in their field goal percentage and free throw percentage. This will be an exciting game to watch to see how this new starting five will look against this dangerous Raptors team. The next game will be at Detroit. The pistons are a surprise so far this season and it has come from the very strong play of Blake Griffin. The Sixers lost to the Pistons in Detroit earlier this season in OT by one point when Blake was able to drop 50 points on the Sixers. The Sixers did win their last game against the pistons at home though. This is a home and home series they will be playing as the Sixers play away then home against the Pistons.
The Wrap Up
Sixers will have a big task with these next two away games, but they should take the challenge and assert themselves as a top favorite in the East at this point in the season if they can win these games. The team is playing great defense and Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons chemistry are growing everyday. They practice, work, and train together to become better players. The headband fashion is a nice little marketing promo right now for the Sixers. The Sixers are the NBA’s best 13-1 at home and just love the Wells Fargo Center and playing in front of the “Philly Faithful.” The process is in full effect right now and this Sixers team is fun to watch.
Philly Sports Moments 