Sixers Bubble Bell Ringer: Sixers reserves fight hard in loss to Suns

If you need a Bell Ringer refresher, check out the first such post of the season. Here are the full season standings, which include the Bubble games:

Bell Ringer Standings

Ben Simmons - 16
Joel Embiid - 14 (includes 2 Bubbles)
Tobias Harris - 12
Josh Richardson - 9 (includes 1 Bubble):
Furkan Korkmaz - 6
Shake Milton - 4 (includes 1 Bubble)
Matisse Thybulle - 3
Al Horford - 2
James Ennis - 1
Raul Neto - 1
Glenn Robinson III - 1
Alec Burks - 1 (includes 1 Bubble)

You won’t be able to tell based upon the 130-117 final score, but the Philadelphia 76ers gave a spirited effort today in the Orlando Bubble. With Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Josh Richardson joining injured stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in sitting out the game, the Sixers reserves gave the playoff-hungry Phoenix Suns all they could handle for about 40 minutes. Philadelphia was still within three points midway through the fourth quarter, before an 8-0 Phoenix run finally gave the Suns some breathing room. Still, it was a more competitive and entertaining game than many expected a few hours ago. Let’s choose a Bell Ringer!

Kyle O’Quinn: 9 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover

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A Kyle O’Quinn triple-double watch was far down on the list of possibilities when the NBA restarted the season, but here we are. Receiving the rare start with the depth chart chopped down, O’Quinn served as the central hub of the Sixers’ offense from the top of the key, finding Matisse Thybulle on a pair of back cuts early in the game and not stopping from there on his way to a career-high 11 assists. Kyle was communicative on the defensive end, and really looked engaged in all facets of the game with his expanded role. O’Quinn checked back into the game with 1:39 needing one point and one rebound for his first career triple-double. While he grabbed the necessary rebound with 43 seconds remaining, his jumper with 16 seconds left was off the mark. No storybook ending on this day for our bearded king.

Alec Burks: 23 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers

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Burks continued his scoring surge, recording 20 or more points for the third straight game, the first such streak for him since the 2017-18 season. Alec has that knack for creating something out of nothing, whether spinning into the lane and then shooting some sort of floater or fallaway jumper, or driving hard for his right-handed scoop shot off the glass. Burks finished 9-of-17 from the field, and while some of those buckets came off screens or via his navigating a pick-and-roll action, it was often just “clear the floor and let #20 go to work.” He also had a terrific skip pass out of the right side of the paint to find Glenn Robinson III for a corner 3, something we haven’t seen a ton of from Burks. Every day in Orlando is tacking on significant coinage to his next contract.

Raul Neto: 22 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers

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Neto tied his career-high with 22 points, recording the most points during his Sixers tenure. He twice set up Kyle O’Quinn perfectly under the basket, and his herky-jerky dribble-drives kept the Suns defenders off balance. They were never sure whether Raul was going to pull up from mid-range or turn on the jets and get all the way to the hoop, twice fouling him for and-one opportunities.

Mike Scott: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover

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If this were a first-half Bell Ringer award, it would go to Mike Scott, who had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting prior to halftime. Scott was not just knocking down open spot-up looks, but draining pull-ups and turnaround jumpers out of the post. He even had a sweet drive and dish under the basket to Kyle O’Quinn. Mike only played a little over four minutes in the second half, with the broadcast team theorizing that Brett Brown had seen what he needed to see from the veteran. The odds of Mike Scott being in the playoff rotation certainly seem exponentially higher than they did one week ago.