Sixers end road trip on a winning note

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly Staff

The Sixers (28-46)  rallied late to beat the Brooklyn Nets (16-58) Tuesday night by a score of 106-101 to close their road trip with a 2-3 record. They also improve to 3-0 on the season against Brooklyn. 

The Sixers trailed out of the gate but would steadily take control as the quarter went on. The Sixers led 31-24 after one. Dario Saric showed signs of bouncing back following his 3-15 performance against Indiana last game, and went 3-6 for 9 points in the first quarter.

Brook Lopez led all scorers with 10 points. The Sixers did not take control of the game until both Lopez and Jeremy Lin exited the game. The duo have been extremely effective when on the floor together. Lin produced 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in the first quarter.

The Sixers' lead persisted throughout the second quarter until the final three minutes when the Nets finally managed to tie the game at 53.  after some great back and forth action, the Nets held the ball with five seconds left and a chance to take their first lead of the quarter. 

Justin Anderson raced back to block the Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and hold the Sixers' lead at 58-57 after two quarters.

Dario Saric led all Sixers with 14 points after two quarters while Brook Lopez led all scorers with 17. Richaun Holmes and Shawn Long both got into foul trouble early, forcing Brett Brown to play Tiago Splitter in his first game in over a year. Splitter Holmes and Long played seven minutes each in the first half combining for 12 points and seven rebounds. Splitter owuld not appear in the second half.

The Nets took the lead on the first possession of the second half, and set the tone for the remainder of the quarter, where the two teams traded the lead continuously. The Nets began to pull away with four minutes left in the quarter when Brook Lopez hit a three over Richaun Holmes that sparked a 6-0 run that gave the Nets the only separation that either team would have in the quarter. The Sixers stormed back with a flurry of blocks and good transition offense to hold a 79-78 lead into the final frame. 

Three minutes into the fourth quarter the game as tied again at 86 points apiece. The game stayed close throughout the quarter to set up an exciting finish in Brooklyn.

The Sixers were down one, before scoring six unanswered points to give themselves a 106-101 lead with seven seconds left. Once again, it was Dario Saric leading the way, getting to the line and making clutch shots to keep the Sixers in the game. The key play was when Saric found a plunging T.J. McConnell with less than a minute left to draw a foul. McConnell would hit both shots and put the Sixers up 104-101.

Saric finished with 23 points and 7 rebounds. While Saric came up big again down the stretch, Robert Covington came up big the whole game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 boards. 

With Sergio Rodriguez unable to play, the Sixers gave the ball handling duties to Nik Stauskas when T.J. McConnell was not in the game. Stauskas played well, scoring 11 points on 4-8 shooting with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. McConnell had 8 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals in the victory. 

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (17 points, 9 rebounds) and Richaun Holmes (11 points) were the other Sixers in double figures.

Brook Lopez led all scorers with 26 points. Chester's own Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 11 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes for the Nets. 

Next Game:

The Sixers return home following their five-game road trip tomorrow night to host the Atlanta Hawks at 7:00 p.m.

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