Sixers Bell Ringer: Game 21 - Sixers stand tall in win over Utah

For a refresher on our Bell Ringer series, take a look back at our first post of the season.

Bell Ringer Standings

Josh Richardson - 5
Joel Embiid - 4
Ben Simmons - 4
Tobias Harris - 3
Furkan Korkmaz - 1
Al Horford - 1
Matisse Thybulle - 1
James Ennis - 1

After a strong first quarter, a 16-0 second-quarter run propelled what was a comfortable Sixers lead into laugher territory. Although the Jazz were able to claw their way back enough in the fourth quarter to make Sixers fans slightly squeamish, Philadelphia held on for the 103-94 victory to move to 10-0 at home this season. Here are your Bell Ringer candidates:

Al Horford: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover

Big Al was the fuse that lit this dynamite Sixers performance, dropping 12 points in the first quarter, the most by a Sixers player in the opening period this season. In the quarter, Horford was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from behind the arc, and also had the defensive play of the game, racing to block Bojan Bogdanovic from behind on the fast break. In addition to getting the crowd fired up, the block represented a prestigious milestone for the veteran.

Horford was doing it all offensively early on, snagging offensive rebounds, showing off a pump-fake-and-go for a driving lay-in, and casually draining a trailing 3. The shooting may have regressed as the game progressed, but Al still made an offensive impact distributing the ball. Two of his five assists came as a result of high-low action between he and Joel Embiid, a good sign for the big men’s continued partnership.

Tobias Harris: 26 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers

With the Phillies having struggled at the position throughout 2019, it’s good to see the Sixers may have already hit on a closer early in the season. We had another night where Harris was the guy Philadelphia turned to for buckets late in the game, and Tobias stepped up with 10 of the Sixers’ 18 points in the fourth quarter. In the last few minutes, the Sixers twice went to a Harris-Joel Embiid pick-and-roll action, and each time, Tobi canned the jumper from around the elbow. With teams understandably focused on the havoc Joel can wreck, other guys like Harris have to take advantage of the reduced attention. Tobias seized that opportunity tonight.

Ben Simmons: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers

Ben didn’t have the offensive scoring explosion many in the Wells Fargo Center were (needlessly) calling for, but he did have any efficient night from the floor (7-of-11, although you’d like to see better than 0-of-4 from the foul line), and his playmaking skills were on full display. Any time he pushed the ball in the open court, Simmons found the open man and put it right in the shooting pocket for 3, and his find of a back-cutting Tobias Harris was masterful.

The story was still the defensive effort, however. After the game, Simmons touched on the fact that having guys around like Josh Richardson and Matisse Thybulle has enabled him to play more off ball this season, which frees him up to rove and hunt steals. Check out these numbers:

Simmons was also a big reason Donovan Mitchell shot just 6-of-19 from the field, much of that production coming later in the game when the outcome was largely decided. Oh, you need one more Ben highlight? Watch Simmons use some fancy ball-handling to leave Bogdanovic looking at a thin outline of mist where he used to be standing:

Matisse Thybulle: 9 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover

The rookie continues to find his way, as for the second time in the last week, he went 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Thybulle played well enough in the first half to earn the spot with the starters to begin the second half, and proved Brett Brown wise with two third-quarter steals. His play to get a hand on a pass from Rudy Gobert to a back-cutting Mike Conley was an outstanding combination of anticipation and athletic ability. Of course, the play we will all remember came in the first half, with Thybulle getting the steal and lofting it up for a Ben Simmons alley-oop.