Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Philadelphia 76ers open up a double-digit lead only to take their foot off the gas late, blowing what should have been a breezy win. It’s an issue that’s plagued the Sixers all season; even when they eke out those games, the end result is a queasy and unnerving feeling that it never should have been that close.
So it came as a breath of fresh, cool Milwaukee air when the Sixers pulled that move in reverse against the Bucks on Saturday. Milwaukee opened up an 18-point lead in the third quarter, a time when collective groans, sighs, and barely surprised sentiments could be heard throughout South Philly.
But with Tobias Harris and PJ Tucker suffering injuries, Doc Rivers called on the bench to play a greater role. And boy, they sure delivered.
After the game, ex-Sixers All-Star Jrue Holiday showered praise on Philadelphia’s difference-making bench.
“I think it was their bench,” said Holiday when asked about how the Sixers were able to come back to defeat the Bucks, per Justin Grasso of si.com. “The bench played well, maybe at the beginning of the fourth. I think we were up at some point 20; then it got down to like 15. And we were going back and forth. The bench in that fourth quarter did a good job of just bringing energy, getting into the paint, knocking down threes, just doing everything that a bench is supposed to do.”
Holiday spent his first four seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, earning an All-Star nod in 2012-13. Since then, Holiday has become a defensive ace and Finals champion, lifting the Larry O’Brien Trophy with the Bucks in 2021.
The Bucks entered the game riding a 16-game win streak stretching back to June 21.
Giannis Issues Warning to Bucks After Sixers Loss
Holiday wasn’t the only Bucks star to speak out on the Sixers after the win. Giannis Antetokounmpo sent his team a message after blowing the lead late.
“They went wherever they wanted to go, scoring from the paint, floaters, isos, offensive rebounds, free throws, 3s,” Antetokounmpo said, via The Associated Press. “You name it. They were able to get everything. We’ve got to be able to play 48 minutes of good basketball, defend for 48 minutes. This is a good lesson for us.”
The Bucks also entered the contest with the league’s best-rated defense. But with the Sixers hanging 133 points on them, the Bucks tumbled to third. The Bucks had only given up 130 points or more on three other occasions this season.
Nonetheless, the Bucks are still one of the league’s title favorites. FanDuel has the Bucks with the league’s second-best odds, trailing just the Boston Celtics. Antetokoumpo, for his part, is tied with Joel Embiid as the second-favorite to win the league’s MVP award.
Embiid Calls Out Giannis Postgame
Embiid also took a chance after the contest to speak on the difficulties of guarding Antetokounmmpo.
“It’s not easy to guard him, but when you’re, I guess, 7-foot-2 and you can move, and you’re also pretty strong, it becomes not easy but becomes a lot easier too because he’s so strong,” Embiid said, per Ky Carlin of SixersWire. “He goes so hard, and it’s kind of like a fullback diving at you basically, and you just got to take it and hope for the best.”
Embiid took that fullback’s hit late, securing a charge call on Antetokoumpo that helped close out the game for the Sixers.
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Jrue Holiday Calls Out Sixers’ Bench After Philly Snaps Bucks’ 16-Game Win-Streak