On Christmas Day, the Philadelphia 76ers put the wood to the Milwaukee Bucks, defeating them 121-109. The 76ers hit a franchise record 21 3-pointers as Joel Embiid (31 points & 11 rebounds) and Tobias Harris (22 points) led the way. The 76ers improve to 23-10 while the Bucks fall to 27-5.
If you follow the NBA, you know the 76ers are good, so seeing them win against the Bucks at home shouldn't come as a shock. What is surprising though is the way in which they won. The 76ers aren't known to be much of a 3-point shooting team, so to see them go wild like they did from beyond the arc took everyone by surprise. Especially the Bucks.
As an extension of that, seeing them win so convincingly was surprising. Had they won by five points or fewer, one might even say that's what we should expect from a quality team playing at home on Christmas. But for them to dominate the Bucks and blow them out is another matter.
Even though this is just one game, the 76ers definitely sent a message to the Bucks and the rest of the Eastern Conference that they are a force to be reckoned with. That if they play like this with more regularity, they might represent the East in the NBA Finals.
Touching quickly on the Bucks, this game is disappointing, but nothing to get overly upset about. If you're them, you have to chalk this up as a bad game that you'll learn from. The Bucks have the best record in the NBA and should feel confident in their body of work. They also have the best player in the NBA in Giannis Antetokounmpo and are still the odds on favorites to win the East. No reason for them to freak out. Just move on to the next game and do a better job defending the perimeter.
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