By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Staff Writer 
This Christmas the Sixers delivered a huge gift to all of their fans, a win against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. In a match-up that had conference finals implications, the Sixers reminded everyone how dominant they could be. When the final buzzer sounded the Sixers had handed the Bucks their fifth loss of the season by a final score of 121-109.
A lot of eyes were on this game as it featured the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. People also wanted to see if the massive size of the Sixers would be able to slow down the reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo and it is safe to say they did just that.
The Sixers threw multiple different looks at the Greek freak in an attempt to keep him guessing and it worked nicely. Giannis finished the game with just 18 points and shot 8-27 from the field, including 0-7 from three-point range.
On the other end, Joel Embiid had a dominant game all around. He finished the afternoon with 31 points and 11 rebounds and did a stellar job defending Giannis. Ben Simmons also posted in an impressive stat line racking up 15 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. All five Sixers’ starters scored in double figures.
The focal point in this game for the Sixers was three-point shooting. This was one area that was looked at as a weakness for the Sixers before the season started, but you wouldn’t have believed it in this game. As a team, the Sixers tied a franchise record for threes made in a game with 21. On top of that, they did it while shooting very effectively, 47.7% on 21-44 shooting.
This was a statement win for the Sixers. The Bucks were looked at as the main threat to stop the Sixers from representing the Eastern Conference in the finals this year, and the Sixers beat them rather easily.
Creating a lineup of size and length in the offseason paid off greatly for the Sixers. It looks like they have built a lineup that can slow down Giannis on offense, which is going to be key in beating them come playoff time. Although it was only one game it is good that the Sixers took the first game of this match-up.
