The Phiadelphia 76ers put together one of their best offensive performances of the season, taking care of the Utah Jazz on the road 114-97.
Ben Simmons orchestrated their offence all night, posting his fifth triple-double of the season, with 13 points, 12 assists and 14 rebounds, while Joel Embiid dominated inside with 23 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
JJ Redick stretched the Jazz defence, knocking down 6-of-9 three-point attempts for his team-high 24 points, while Jimmy Butler added 18 on the night.
Ben Simmons notches his fifth-triple-double of the season in the #Sixers 114-97 win over the #Jazz
— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) December 28, 2018
📊 13 PTS | 12 AST | 14 REB pic.twitter.com/OKYuKw9BNL
Philly had the ball flying around the court with 31 assists on 43 made field goals, thanks to plenty of ball movement and willing passing, yielding results like this:
OOP THEY DID IT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/FRvMgbsVg1
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) December 28, 2018
Both teams struggled out of the gates, missing a ton of shots, with Philly missing their first six, trailing by seven points after the first quarter. They quickly turned things around, outscoring the Jazz 92-68 through the next three. They shot 15-of-20 in the second period to storm back into the game.
With the game in the balance at the half, Philly took control in the third quarter, behind a 21-5 run, with Redick knocking down a pair of triples to help stretch the lead. While the Sixers offence deserves plenty of credit, they did a great job defensively, running the Jazz off the three-point line, holding them to just 11-of-35 from deep.
The Jazz shot 38% on the night, with Donovan Mitchell leading the way with 23 points on 20 shots, while Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Aussie Dante Exum was the bright spark on the night, recording a season-high 20 points off the bench, knocking down three triples and getting to the rim at will. His recent run of form has gone a long way to securing those backup point guard minutes, with coach Quin Snyder showing plenty of faith in the 23 year-old of late.
🔥 Dante Exum had the hot hand off the bench with 2️⃣0️⃣ points in the #Jazz's loss to the #Sixers pic.twitter.com/BwZatuo34C
— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) December 28, 2018
With the win, the Sixers improve to 23-13 on the seaosn, while the Jazz fall to 17-19.