Sixers Bell Ringer: Philadelphia cruises to easy win in nation’s capital

Hey, a comfortable win!

Sixers Bell Ringer regular season standings:

Joel Embiid: 9
Tyrese Maxey: 8
Seth Curry: 7
Tobias Harris: 3
Andre Drummond: 3
Furkan Korkmaz: 1
Charles Bassey: 1

We experienced something rarer than Halley’s Comet tonight: a stress-free win for the Philadelphia 76ers. After trailing by six points at the end of the first quarter, the Sixers outscored Washington 38-24 in the second to take the lead, then went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter to break the game open. Doc Rivers was able to empty the bench late in the fourth quarter as the Sixers won 117-96, avoiding dropping below .500 and moving to 17-16 on the season. Let’s get to Bell Ringer.

Joel Embiid: 36 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Joel Embiid passed 7,000 career points tonight, as he and Allen Iverson are the only Sixers to do that within their first 300 games (282 for Joel). Joel wasted no time getting down to business against the Wizards, scoring the team’s first eight points of the game, and finishing the first quarter with 13 points. Embiid had everything working tonight — he hit a pair of three-pointers, knocked down his mid-range jumpers, and dominated on the interior. Washington had no recourse as the big man continually marched to the free throw line (10-of-11 on the game).

Adding insult to injury, Joel also won the mind games against Montrezl Harrell. After the two picked up double technicals in the third quarter, Embiid goaded Harrell into another technical a couple plays later to get the Washington center ejected from the game. Embiid finished the game with 36 points on 12-of-17 shooting in just 31 minutes. In this holiday season, every time you see Joel go coast-to-coast, an angel gets it wings.

Tobias Harris: 23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Harris was a steady presence in the win, building toward an efficient, workmanlike effort in going 10-of-16 from the floor with just a single turnover. Although he did get bogged down in bully ball a couple times, Tobias did a nice job getting downhill on a number of occasions, twice finishing with pretty underhanded rolls around the rim. Given the fact that the starters got somewhat of an early night off, Harris did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 15 points prior to intermission. Tobi was tenacious on the offensive glass, fighting for three o-boards, which were all off his own misses and led directly to putbacks. You take this line from Harris every time.

Furkan Korkmaz: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Korkmaz was 2-of-20 from downtown for the month entering play tonight, so it felt like a Christmas miracle to see him knock down a pair of triples in the first half. Although those were the only two treys he would hit on the night (on six attempts), it was an overall positive effort from the Turkish rainmaker. Furkan shot 5-of-9 from the floor, hitting a Redick-esque jumper off the move in the corner, a contested one-footed fadeaway along the baseline, and drawing a couple fouls off the dribble. The swagger was definitely back for Furkan, and hopefully, this performance is something he can build upon moving forward.