(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The Philadelphia 76ers trailed by as many as 19 points vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.
But they were able to regroup and slowly climb their way back into the game, up to the point where they were up eight points midway through the fourth quarter.
The team should feel great about themselves after their overall performance, especially considering they didn’t make a lot of additions in the offseason and they were without James Harden.
However, it’s not easy to stop the two-headed monster of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and coach Nick Nurse found that out the hard way.
Following the game, Nurse praised Lillard’s shiftiness and change of gears, as well as the way he forces his way to the free-throw line (via Tin Bontemps).
Nick Nurse when asked about trying to guard Damian Lillard after his 39 points tonight:
“It’s gonna be tough. He’s hard to guard with his stop-start and his shiftiness and it’s gonna be hard to guard … how many times did he go to line tonight? 30? 17? It just felt like 30.”
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) October 27, 2023
Lillard went to the line 17 times and didn’t miss a single free throw all night, but he dominated the pace of the game and made an impact on multiple aspects.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s presence in the lane opens up so much space for Lillard to pull up from beyond the arc, and other teams are going to have nightmares trying to figure out how to stop this one-two punch.
Even so, the Sixers’ offense looked excellent.
Tyrese Maxey seems ready to take a major leap and breakout as an All-Star, and Tobias Harris had one of the most aggressive and efficient games that come to mind in recent memory.
Kelly Oubre Jr. was also a great contributor, especially from beyond the arc, and they didn’t even need Joel Embiid to do most of the heavy lifting.
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