The Philadelphia 76ers have had their struggles on the road this season, but they're just a different team at Wells Fargo Center.
Led by Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris, the 76ers delivered down the stretch to secure a 117-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets to move to 19-2 at home this season and 26-16 overall.
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Here are the key takeaways from today's win:
Simmons fires early, Harris comes up clutch
With Joel Embiid missing his fourth-straight game with a torn ligament in his left hand, the 76ers needed offence from Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris and that's exactly what they delivered.
After a blistering first half in their last game against the Pacers, Simmons brought that same energy early against the Nets, scoring 15 of his 20 points before halftime.
He added a game-high 11 assists and six rebounds, shooting 9-of-13 from the field.
12 points in 12 minutes.
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 16, 2020
And a mean slam. 😤#PhilaUnite | ⭐️ https://t.co/AxzfVFCUek pic.twitter.com/g1hcOFPIaE
While Simmons set the tone early, Harris shut it down, scoring 24 of his game-high 34 points in the second half. He added 10 rebounds and was super efficent, shooting 14-of-20 from the field and 4-of-6 from the three-point line.
Harris scored nine of the 76ers' final 11 points, putting them up five with a huge three-pointer with 2:20 remaining.
Triple to beat the shot-clock.
— NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2020
Pull-up mid-range jumper.
Clutch floater.@tobias31 (34 PTS) comes up big late to lift the @sixers at home! #PhilaUnite pic.twitter.com/pGp8tuUqd9
While Harris and Simmons led the charge, Furkan Korkmaz found his stroke off the bench, recording 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep, including back-to-back triples early in the fourth to put Philly up 94-92.
Philly's late-game execution
Philly's fourth-quarter performance will no doubt bring a smile to coach Brett Brown's face as they diligently executed on both ends.
With the Nets refusing to go away, the 76ers clamped down on the defensive end, holding the Nets to under 30 percent shooting in the fourth quarter.
"That was the big difference of the game," Harris said post-game. "We said after the third quarter when we sat down that we needed to hold them under 20 points this quarter to win the game and we came out, we executed. I thought we did a really good job of forcing them downhill and forcing them to make shots over length.
"J-Rich [Josh Richardson] did a great job of tracking those guards down and not letting them get easy looks at threes. I thought Al [Horford] did a great job too, being able to play the difference between the guards and Jarrett Allen, so we just were locked in all throughout the fourth quarter and that led to plenty of buckets for us out in transition."
The Nets made just one of their last eight shots as the 76ers closed the game on a 15-3 run over the final 4:13 to seal the win.
A cold night for Kyrie Irving
In his third game back after a long injury layoff, Kyrie Irving struggled to make an impact on the offensive end against a smothering 76ers defence.
Irving managed just 14 points on 6-of-21 shooting, scoring just three points in the fourth quarter.
The 76ers' perimeter trio of Simmons, Richardson and rookie Matisse Thybulle combined on the defensive end to get the ball out of Irving's hands and force a string of tough shots in crunch time.
Thybulle recorded four blocks and two steals to go with his five points and three rebounds, while Richardson had three blocks and a steal to go with his 15 points and five rebounds.
For the Nets, who have lost nine of their last 11 overall and six straight on the road, Spencer Dinwiddie led them in scoring with 26 points and eight assists, while Jarrett Allen added a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.
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