NBA – Giannis outshines Embiid as the Bucks beat 76ers 112-101

Losing three consecutive games in a regular-season spanning across 82 games is not the end of the world for any team considering the unrelenting demand of the league, but Philadelphia 76ers headed to the Brew City to face the Eastern Conference behemoth, Milwaukee Bucks, in perhaps the worst possible shape.

The reason being that the Sixers not just lost those games but were outplayed, and outmuscled completely by the opponents, forcing a frustrated Ben Simmons to label his team as “Soft” after Sixers’ blow out 137-106 loss at Miami Heat.

There were signs of improvement as the Sixers showed more aggression at the start of the game and deservedly won the first quarter 26-22. Just like the Christmas game, Sixers shot better and finished the game with 40% shooting from beyond the arc. But as soon as the Bucks upped the ante, Sixers yielded, softness exposed, and the home team won 112-101 at Fiserv Forum.

What was not soft was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s approach. He was as ruthless and dominant as he can be as the 2018-19 NBA MVP, fresh off from winning the Eastern Conference player of the month for January, dropped 36 points and 20 rebounds, both game-high. The Greek-Freak recorded his fifth straight game with 30-plus points and 15-plus rebounds and 14th time this season.

Khris Middleton, with only four points in the first half, ended with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Eric Bledsoe had 14 points and 8 boards. Bucks had all players scoring five or more points, except Ersan Ilyasova.

With the win, Bucks improved to 44-7 in the East and won 12th time in 13 games. They also avenged their Christmas Day defeat to the 76ers in Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid had another dissatisfactory night, and though the Cameroonian ended with a double-double, 19 points, and 11 rebounds, he could shot just 6 of 26 from the field and 3 of 10 from 3-point range.

Tobias Harris led the fight for Philadelphia with a team-high 25 points, while Ben Simmons missed out on a triple-double after scoring 11 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists.

After that result, the Sixers slipped four-game behind fourth-placed Miami Heat. They will start their four-game home swing with a game against Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday morning.