By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (7-21) dropped the final game of their homestand tonight, 108-93, to the New Orleans Pelicans (8-20). The Sixers led by eight after one, but were outscored by the Pelicans 42-21 in the second quarter and could never quite recover. Anthony Davis led all scorers with 29 after scoring just three in the first while Joel Embiid was mired in foul trouble through the majority of this one and was unable to score a point in the second half, finishing with just 11 after scoring 33 on Sunday.
New Orleans just vastly outplayed Philadelphia on all ends. The Pelicans shot 58.8 percent from three, the Sixers shot 33.3 percent. New Orleans out-rebounded the Sixers 53-43, including 16-6 on the offensive glass. In addition, the Pelicans led in assists 28-18, points in the paint 52-32 and points off turnovers, 18-14.
Both the Sixers and Pelicans started the game off shooting the ball pretty terribly, but Philadelphia put together an 8-0 run towards the end of the quarter to take a 23-15 lead after one. The Sixers held Anthony Davis to just three points on 1-for-8 shooting in the opening 12 minutes.
New Orleans began the second on an 16-2 spurt to take a 33-27 lead, thanks to a series of sloppy turnovers by the Sixers. Philadelphia responded with a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to one with just over five minutes to play in the first half. The Pelicans kept the pedal on the medal though, getting out to a 47-39 advantage nearing the two minute mark in the second. New Orleans reached the half with a convincing 57-44 lead, outscoring the Sixers 42-21 in the second.
Philadelphia shot just 5-for-19 from three in the first two quarters, were outrebounded by eight (seven on the offensive glass), outscored in the paint 30-20 and also turned the ball over nine times, leading to 15 Pelicans points. New Orleans' bench scored 36 points to power their offense in the first half. Anthony Davis, after scoring just three in the first, tallied 11 points in the second.
With Joel Embiid committing his fourth foul in the third quarter and Jahlil Okafor needing a rest, Nerlens Noel entered the game with just under seven minutes to go in the third. He received a very nice ovation from the Philadelphia faithful upon his entrance into the game.
Nerlens Noel gets a very warm welcome as he checks into the game for the first time. #SixersTalk pic.twitter.com/Wtg7B2WlwA
— CSN Philly (@CSNPhilly) December 21, 2016
Philadelphia cut the lead to 70-59, thanks in part to a 5-0 run with 4:22 remaining in the third, but New Orleans maintained a 15-point lead, 84-69, heading into the final quarter. Noel, in just under seven minutes in the third, scored four points and grabbed three boards.
In the fourth, the Sixers were able to cut it to nine, 90-81 with about seven minutes to go in the game. As part of a 19-8 run, Philadelphia chipped the lead down to seven, 95-88 with five minutes left in the fourth. New Orleans went back up 15 following an 8-0 run with under two minutes to play and closed the game out by a final score of 108-93.
Ersan Ilyasova led the Sixers with 14 points, Gerald Henderson had 13 while Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Robert Covington each finished with 11.
The Sixers are back in action on Friday, beginning a four-game road trip at west. Their first stop is in Phoenix for a match-up against the Suns. Tip-off is slated for 9:00 p.m. Philadelphia will also visit Sacramento, Utah and Denver on their trek out west.
