The Portland Trail Blazers made up ground after a demoralizing 26-point deficit, but the Philadelphia 76ers held off the surge and pulled away with the 105-95 victory on Thursday night. In one of the most impressive showings of the season, the Sixers came hungry and cleaned their plate as they competed with textbook verve.
Despite Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant combining for 49 points, all but two Blazers finished the night with a negative plus/minus. The offense was running in the first half, but shots just wouldn’t fall, and by the time the second half rolled around and the Blazers started seeing the bottom of the net, their opponent became time, not just the Joel Embiid-led ball club.