The Portland Trail Blazers looked overwhelmed early, but put on a clinic in the second half to blow out the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers 130-115 on the road.
Philly looked to be the more energized squad in the early goings - not all that surprising for a 10 a.m. Pacific tip - but Portland hung tight and kept it close during a fast paced back and forth first half that featured about as many errant passes, missed tips and lost balls as fans could remember this season. That energy was all but lost for the Sixers for the latter 24 minutes, as the Blazers looked to slow things down and finally remembered to preach the mantra of “we have 500+ combined pounds of center to throw at you - what are you going to do about it?