Sixers push winning streak to five with close win over Jazz

By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor

In a game that wasn't necessarily a must win for the Sixers on Tuesday night as they traveled to Utah to take on the Jazz, but in order to extend their winning streak to five games, they would need to crack a tough Utah defense.

They were able to hold on for a 104-97 victory over the Jazz.

The first quarter was the Sixers' through and through. They definitely showed a lot early on, and the Jazz struggled shooting the ball. A mix of both gave the Sixers the early lead going into the second quarter.

The Jazz shot 4-of-18 from the field in the first quarter and just couldn't get anything going. The Sixers shot 12-of-19 from the field in the first and were firing on all cylinders.

The second quarter took a different shape, as the Jazz who trailed by as many as 16 at one point, cut the lead to two at halftime thanks to a 30-foot three pointer from Donovan Mitchell with one second left.

However, the shooting woes continued throughout for the Jazz, and thanks to the Sixers struggling to keep a handle on the ball late, the Jazz almost came away with the victory late.

The Sixers were absolutely overtaken by foul trouble throughout, thanks to Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who without Joel Embiid, he had to find someone to pick on.

Jahlil Okafor found three early minutes, but got tagged with three early fouls, ending his night prematurely.

Richaun Holmes getting the start for the Sixers was a big story, but he couldn't find many ways to get around Gobert, and he had to exit for some time, because of his four fouls.

Amir Johnson also was caught with five fouls in the game.

Dario Saric was by far the highlight of the game for the Sixers on Tuesday night, having easily his best game of the season so far. The Homie actually finished with a double-double, scoring 25 and getting 10 boards. Saric shot 7-of-13 from the field, 5-of-9 from downtown, and went 6-of-6 from the line. All that being said, and Saric finished at a minus-2.

JJ Redick carried over from his hot night last Friday, scoring 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Redick was 3-of-7 from three in 35 minutes on the court.

Ben Simmons ended up finishing just four assists shy of his third triple-double in 10 games. He had 16 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, with three steals, and three blocks. Simmons also provided a ton of highlight dunks that absolutely wowed the Utah crowd and around the globe.

16 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks for @BenSimmons25 in the W. pic.twitter.com/8NU6tp29Bd

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 8, 2017

Simmons continues to impress and he doesn't care what happens on the other end of the floor when he pushes past a defender for a slam.

With Jerryd Bayless out, TJ McConnell played more and finished with seven points and eight assists.

The Jazz absolutely struggled shooting the ball, ending the night with 30.3-percent (30-99) shooting. Not good.

The Utah backcourt didn't even score a point in the game until there was 7:44 left on the clock, when Ricky Rubio made a step-back jumper. Rubio finished the night with 11 points and eight assists on 4-of-16 shooting.

While rookie Donovan Mitchell has impressed in recent weeks, he may want to work on his shooting efficiency in the coming practices. He shot 3-of-21 from the field and 2-of-11 from three.

This is a big victory for the Sixers, although there are still facets of the game that need improvement, such as ball handling, and limiting turnovers. However, I was impressed with the way they held a lead (despite a few times) without Joel Embiid on the floor.

Embiid has acted as a glue in the past for the Sixers, and it was nice to see that they can still win even without him playing.

There was also a little bit of history involved in the win, as there probably will be if the Sixers continue to win thanks to losing most of their games over the last four years.

#Sixers with their first five-game win streak since Dec 31-Jan 9, 2012. Snap a 12-game losing streak in Utah, dating back to 2005.#HereTheyCome

— Sixerdelphia (@Sixerdelphia) November 8, 2017

The Sixers play the second leg of their five-game west coast stint, as they head to Sacramento to face the Kings on Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET.