No Embiid, no Simmons, no problem for Sixers
Tobias Harris scored
24 points and the Sixers beat the Chicago Bulls 127-105 Thursday night even though they were missing stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons for contact tracing.
With Harris leading a balanced attack, the Sixers had more than enough to get by without their two best players.
Dwight Howard scored a seasonhigh 18 and grabbed 12 rebounds. Furkan Korkmaz added 16 points, and Tony Bradley scored a seasonhigh 14 on 7-for-7 shooting. The
6-foot-10 center also got this shoutout on Twitter from Embiid during the game: “That’s it!!! I’ve seen enough. Build around Tony Bradley @sixers”.
Embiid and Simmons both traveled to Atlanta for Sunday’s All-Star game, only to learn the night before they were flagged for contact tracing. Though neither player tested positive for COVID-19, the barber they visited before leaving did.
Embiid, who scored a careerhigh 50 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in a win over the Bulls last month, is expected to return Friday at Washington. Simmons is to miss one more game.
Lauri Markkanen, back from a sprained right shoulder, led Chicago with 23 points. The 7-footer from Finland made all seven 3-pointers in his first appearance since Feb. 5.
All-Star Zach LaVine scored 19, and Coby White finished with 18 points.
Matisse Thybulle capped an 8-0 spurt with a 3-pointer to make it 84-69 with 5:43 left in the third quarter, and the 76ers remained in control the rest of the way.
Milton hit a layup at the buzzer to start a 13-0 run, capped by a dunk by Howard’s alley-oop dunk to make it 108-85 with 9:40 left in the game.
TIP-INS
76ERS » Doc Rivers coached the team after missing practice the previous day because of an illness. ... Rivers said Embiid and Simmons have been working out on their own: “They feel great. I guess that’s the most important thing.”
BULLS » The Bulls were basically at full strength with Markkanen and Otto Porter Jr. available. Porter had three points in 18 minutes after being sidelined since Feb. 1 because
of back spasms. “We just haven’t been healthy for a good portion of the year,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We haven’t had the full complement of players, so it’s good to have everybody back.” ... GM Marc Eversley was hired out of Philadelphia’s front office last spring.
UP NEXT
76ERS »
Visit Washington on Friday.
BULLS » Host Miami on Friday.
PHILADELPHIA » Washington can credit this win to the milestones: Alex Ovechkin scored his 715th career goal, John Carlson reached 500 career points and goalie Ilya Samsonov got his first career assist.
Nic Dowd used another fat number — a 185-foot empty-netter — to seal the victory.
“I can’t believe it’s taken that long to end one that way,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette. “It puts it out of reach.”
Ovechkin continued his move up the NHL career goals list to help the Capitals win their third straight game, 5-3 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Ovechkin moved two goals shy of matching Phil Esposito (717) for sixth on the goals list. He scored his fourth goal against the Flyers in just three games this season. The three-time MVP has 38 goals in 60 career games against the Flyers.
Conor Sheary, John Carlson and Dowd scored three straight goals to build a 4-1 cushion and help the Capitals win for the seventh time in the last eight games. Dowd scored an empty-netter off a short pass from Samsonov in the final seconds.
Laviolette, a former Flyers coach, has long had the philosophy to try to finish the game from any angle.
“He wants to end the game if we have a chance to end the game,” Dowd said.
Travis Konecny scored his seventh goal of the season, and Ivan Provorov and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers.
Brian Elliott got the start in net for the Flyers in place of slumping Carter Hart.
The Caps and Flyers finish their two-game Philly set on Saturday.
“There’s no doubt we have to be better,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. “That’s on me to have them prepared and know what to expect. We need to do a better job next game and players have to get themselves
ready to execute and compete.”
Ovechkin made it 1-0 when he scored his ninth goal of the season early in the first period. Konecny, who turned 24 on Thursday, tied it with his seventh goal of the season.
The Flyers played a sloppy first period and committed seven turnovers. Sheary took advantage of one on the blue line and was left all alone against Elliott. Sheary’s shot trickled into the net.