By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly Staff
The Philadelphia 76ers headed back on the road, this time to New Orleans to take on the 7-15 Pelicans. The Pelicans were looking to win behind their star Anthony Davis and snap a three-game skid while the Sixers aimed to end a 23-game road losing streak dating back to last season.
Philadelphia saw the return of Joel Embiid, after he missed the last game due to rest.
The game started as the Pelicans took an early lead at the end of the first quarter, however from there, the Sixers took over the game and were able to pull away from the Pelicans throughout.
Anthony Davis, of course, was the bright spot for the Pelicans, with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks, but as the season has already explained, Davis cannot do it all for his team.
Five different Sixers had 10 or more points during the contest as the five players were the main reason why the Sixers outscored the Pelicans 47-31 in the second half.
Ersan Ilyasova once again led the way for the Sixers in scoring with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Sergio Rodriguez was named CSN's Player of the Game after contributing 16 points, had eight assists, and shot 4-of-8 from the 3 point line.
Joel Embiid played his heart out tonight with 14 points, seven boards, two assists, three steals, and four blocks. At the end of the fourth quarter, Embiid stole the ball away from Anthony Davis, as it proved to be a crucial moment to the Sixers pulling away from the Pelicans. Following the steal, the two superstars had a short stare-down which allowed Davis to exit the game.
Nik Stauskas had 14 points, Dario Saric had 13, as they both provided solid minutes off the bench.
The Sixers did an excellent job on the defensive side of the ball, as they held New Orleans to 30% shooting from the field in the second half, and scored 17 points off of Pelican turnovers.
The Sixers also did a fantastic job of keeping their hands on the ball, while passing the ball efficiently. They only had 10 turnovers tonight, which is well below their season average of 16.5 turnovers/game.
Philadelphia pulled away towards the end of the game, and never turned back, as they went into New Orleans and took the win, 99-88.
The win marks the first win on the road for the Sixers since January 20 of last season vs. the Magic. It snaps a 23-game road losing streak.
On the year, the win also snapped their eight game losing streak, as they improve to 5-18 on the season.
The Sixers will travel to Detroit on Sunday to take on the Pistons at 6 p.m. ET.
