PHILADELPHIA — Doc Rivers wouldn’t go as far as calling Tuesday night’s tilt against the Milwaukee Bucks a barometer game for his 76ers.
“I just think that we’re playing another good team in the NBA,” the Sixers coach said before the game. “And these guys happen to be the world champs. I think we lose that fact a lot. Every time I hear, I hear everybody but Milwaukee.”
Rivers did his best to downplay the magnitude of the game and to remind us that the Bucks are the defending NBA champions. But the Sixers played better than them in spots, just like Sunday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns, but left the game with the same outcome.
This game showed the Sixers still have things to work on after a 118-116 loss at the Wells Fargo Center. They blew a 10-point lead and surrendered 72.2% shooting in the fourth quarter.
But this game went down to the wire.
Giannis Antetokounmpo split a pair of free throws to give Milwaukee a two-point advantage with 13.2 seconds to play. The Sixers grabbed the rebound and called timeout after Antetokounmpo missed the second free throw.
That gave them the ball with 12.4 seconds left.
James Harden missed a step-back three-pointer. Joel Embiid grabbed the rebound and was originally awarded a putback basket on a goaltending call against Antetokounmpo. But the goaltending call was overturned after the play was reviewed. As a result, the teams had a jump ball at midcourt with 1.6 seconds left. Harden recovered the ball, but time ran out.
The loss dropped the Sixers (46-29) two spots to fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with seven games remaining. The Bucks (47-28) moved up one spot to second, pulling them within a half-game of the first-place Miami Heat.
Having won two of the team’s three meetings, Milwaukee also holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. That could be an asset in the Eastern Conference seedings if both teams finish with the same record.
In addition to being a barometer game with seeding implications, this matchup featured two of the league’s MVP candidates and scoring leaders in Embiid and the Bucks’ Antetokounmpo.
Antetokoumpo finished with a game-high 40 points to with 14 rebounds and 6 assists. Embiid had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists, while Harden paced the Sixers with 32 points and 9 assists. Tobias Harris added 22 points and 11 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey finished with only seven points.
Embiid vs Giannis
This matchup didn’t exactly live up the hype early on.
That’s because Embiid, being guarded by Brook Lopez and, at times, Bobby Portis, missed seven of his first eight shots and had only six points with 2 minutes, 53 seconds to go before intermission. At that point, Antetokounmpo was up to 15 points, five rebounds and three assists. His highlight was a first-quarter dunk on Embiid.
But Embiid scored his second basket — a three-pointer — on an assist from Harden with 2:28 left to give the Sixers a 54-44 cushion. That basket came with Serge Ibaka in the game guarding Embiid with Lopez out for rest and Portis out with three fouls.
Embiid took advantage of the Ibaka matchup, adding two 13-foot jumpers. He finished the half with 13 points on 4-for-11 shooting to go with five assists, four rebounds and a steal. Antetokounmpo had 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting at that point to go with five rebounds, four assists and a block.
Both players picked up their play after intermission.
In addition to being MVP contenders, they’re locked in a three-player battle with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James for the scoring title.
James is averaging a league-best 30.1 points per game. Embiid is second at 29.9 and Antetokounmpo is third at 29.7.
Harden’s solid effort
Wednesday marked Harden’s 15th game in a Sixers uniform. Things haven’t exactly been easy for the perennial All-Star while trying to figure out when to be aggressive or look for teammates.
But Danny Green is far from concerned.
“I think he’s pretty comfortable,” Green said. “He’s still learning a lot of the things that we do defensively. The philosophies, offensively, of where to find a spot and also Jo’s spots in playing with him and also playing with different lineups, different rotations.”
Well, Harden definitely looked comfortable against the Bucks. The All-Star point guard was in attack-mode from start, scoring seven of the Sixers’ first 11 points. Harden started off by attacking the basket. That opened things up for him excel with his trademark step-back three-pointer.
Green noted that the Sixers have different rotations each game.
Millsap the backup big
Before Tuesday, Paul Millsap had only played in one game since the Sixers acquired DeAndre Jordan as their backup center on March 3. But on this night, Millsap subbed in for Embiid with 1 minute, 47 seconds left in the first quarter. That had been Jordan’s role.
Millsap recorded a steal, committed two fouls, and missed his lone shot attempt during a 4:25 stretch before Embiid returned at the 9:22-mark of the second quarter.
Millsap’s other appearance since Jordan’s arrival came when he got the start against the Miami Heat on March 21 while Embiid had the night off. On that night, the Sixers started Millsap because they wanted to keep Jordan in the backup center role.
Millsap played nine minutes while Jordan didn’t leave the bench
What’s next
The Sixers play face the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m., in the third of four meetings against the Pistons.
