Brandon Ingram scored 28 points, and Kent Bazemore (27 points, 5 threes, 4 steals) came alive as the Spurs weathered a big fight from the eastern conference's toughest squad, overcoming an early deficit to spark a 3rd Quarter run. Leading into the 4th Quarter by 15 points, the Spurs got the "W" in convincing fashion as Joe Harris (19 points, 5 threes) kept burying 3PT daggers and Andre Drummond showed Philly that his wrist was just fine this time around, on his way to a 16 points, 19 rebounds performance.
Fred VanVleet dished 13 assists, approaching his career-high in dimes, scoring 7 points as well. Dejounte Murray had 19 points & 9 assists. Ingram got the highlight play of the game, swatting the ball down as Al Horford rose up for a layup attempt.
For the Sixers, Ben Simmons scored 14 points with 9 assists, 3 turnovers. Tobias Harris (14 points) had a chilly shooting night, going 6-13 from the field with Shake Milton notching 17 points. Al Horford finished the night with 11 points. Joel Embiid had 19 points, 19 rebounds to lead the Sixers. Behind him, Clint Capela had 12 points, 7 rebounds, catching a nice alley oop during the early run by Philly. However, the 76ers had 14 turnovers and only made five shots from long range, compared to 18 threes by the Spurs. Free throw shooting was also a problem, as Philly went 17/24 in what was mostly a close game.
If the stars align this summer, we'll see the Spurs and 76ers at least four more times. With two contentious battles in the books, it promises to be a great potential NBA Finals rematch (4-1, Spurs last year) in what has become a fierce rivalry between two tough-minded defensive squads.
