Sixers Bell Ringer: Game 73 - Sixers stop flying high, clipped by Hawks

For a refresher on what constitutes a Bell Ringer, please reference the initial post.

Bell Ringer Season Standings:

Joel Embiid - 24
Ben Simmons - 19
Jimmy Butler - 10
JJ Redick - 8
Tobias Harris - 3
Robert Covington - 1
Dario Saric - 1
T.J. McConnell - 1
Furkan Korkmaz - 1
Landry Shamet - 1
Corey Brewer - 1
Boban Marjanovic - 1
Mike Scott - 1

The Sixers entered the night riding high on a six-game winning streak, including Wednesday night’s big win over the Celtics. However, their defense got lost in baggage claim sometime on the flight down to Atlanta, and the Hawks finished off a 129-127 win with a Trae Young floater in the final second. Nevertheless, before moving on to Orlando Monday night, we must select a Bell Ringer.

Ben Simmons: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers

Simmons got off to an aggressive start, dropping nine points in the first quarter. He picked his spots throughout the game, meeting minimal resistance on drives to the hoop, resulting in plenty of dunks or short hooks around the basket. Defensively, although Ben was part of the team-wide strike against playing strong defense, he did manage to make a handful of disruptive plays, most notably knocking the ball away from Trae Young from behind in the closing minutes. I don’t think Vince Carter had to deal with near-seven-footers disrupting passing lanes like this when he entered the league two decades ago.

Joel Embiid: 27 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 turnovers

Joel toed the fine line between putting up big numbers while looking largely disinterested by the proceedings. Coming off his dominant 20-of-21 outing at the free throw line against Boston, Embiid continued to draw a ton fouls, going 7-of-10 at the line in the first quarter alone. The second quarter featured Embiid’s best stretch of the game, as he flashed a filthy eurostep move along the baseline for a bucket, and then spun into a mid-range jumper on the next possession. After 16 first half points, though, Embiid never took the game into his hands and ensured the Sixers came away with the win. Two of his turnovers also came at the worst possible time late in the game.

Jimmy Butler: 25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover

For a short stretch, it looked Brett Brown had tapped his right arm to call in the closer and Jimmy Butler would drag the team across the finish line once again. Butler scored a team-high eight points in the fourth quarter, going a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line (part of a 13-of-13 night). Most impressively, he knocked down two go-ahead free throws after getting smacked in the face inside the final minute. I still would have liked to see Jimmy have a better plan when that double team came at him on the final shot clock violation.

Mike Scott: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 turnover

Scott broke out of a mini-shooting slump, shooting 3-of-6 from behind the arc. He finished a team-best plus-10 for the game, as in the second half, Brett Brown went back to a few minutes of a small lineup with Scott at the five in favor of Boban to some success.

James Ennis: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal

I don’t know how to really express my praise for Ennis for his play Saturday night, except to say that he’s the only Sixer that didn’t look like he was at Magic City until 4:00 am the night before. Thanks for treating this game with the same sense of urgency as the Boston or Milwaukee games, James.

Boban Marjanovic: 5 points, 3 rebounds

When a 7-foot-3 walking mountain shows off a silky smooth jumper for his first career 3-pointer, I can’t deny him his props. Look forward to seeing you in next year’s 3-point shootout, Boban.

(Editor’s Note: Some statistics for Simmons, Embiid, and Butler were inaccurate at initial posting and have since been corrected. Apologies for the error.)