Sixers Bell Ringer: Game 41 - Road woes continue as Sixers drop close one in Indiana

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

Bell Ringer Standings

Ben Simmons - 10
Tobias Harris - 8
Joel Embiid - 8
Josh Richardson - 8
Matisse Thybulle - 3
Furkan Korkmaz - 1
Al Horford - 1
James Ennis - 1

For the second game in a row, the Sixers held a nine-point lead heading into the halftime locker room. Unfortunately, while it wasn’t nearly the second-half collapse Philadelphia experienced in Dallas, the Pacers scored the final seven points of the game to serve the Sixers their sixth-straight loss away from home, 101-95. Let’s choose a Bell Ringer from what was at least a much more highly-contested effort than we saw on the same court in Indiana two weeks ago.

Ben Simmons: 24 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers

Mirroring the team’s overall trajectory, Simmons had his second-straight huge first half. He recorded 20 points and nine rebounds prior to halftime. Ben drove the lane and finished with either hand, glided down the floor for emphatic finishes in transition, and even showed off the rare (for him) dunk off a drive in the half court. Do that more, Ben! You’re 6-foot-10, 230 pounds! For whatever reason, the second half was a different story for Simmons, shooting 1-for-6 from the field with no assists after the break. But the Sixers wouldn’t have even been in a position to win the game down the stretch without Ben putting the team on his back in the first half.

Josh Richardson: 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover

So quiet across the first three quarters that he could have co-starred alongside John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, J-Rich finally exploded for a whopping 17 points in the fourth quarter. He sank two mid-range jumpers in the first minute of the frame, then later finished a hard-charging drive over Justin Holiday before knocking down a few more jump shots. His pull-up 3 from the top of they key with the shot clock winding down briefly gave the Sixers back the lead with two minutes left; sadly, those were the team’s final points of the game.

Raul Neto: 7 points, 1 turnover

After receiving no non-garbage-time minutes across the last three games, Neto got the nod from Brett Brown to spell Ben Simmons for the first three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Raul looked far from rusty, scoring seven straight Sixers points to help keep things a one-possession game when Ben re-entered the game. He did get stripped from behind by T.J. McConnell, leading to a Justin Holiday dunk, but I challenge you to name a single NBA player who hasn’t been victimized by a McConnell hustle play. Good for Raul for bringing a few things to the table despite coming in cold.