Sixers Bubble Bell Ringer: Embiid injures ankle as Sixers lose wild one to Portland

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 - 8
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)

In the first quarter, Joel Embiid stepped awkwardly on the basket’s stanchion and left the game for good with a left ankle injury. The final result seemed academic at that point as the Sixers quickly fell behind by 17 points. However, the Sixers had plenty of fight in them on this Sunday evening, climbing their way back into the game to eventually take their first lead of the game on a Josh Richardson stepback jumper with seconds left in the third quarter.

Philadelphia held the lead for much of the final frame, but then the clock chimed Dame Time and Damian Lillard (game-high 51 points) scored nine points in 90 seconds to take the Blazers from down one to up six. The Sixers had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Richardson’s 3-point attempt was off the mark, and Portland pulled off the come-from-behind after coming-from-ahead 124-121 victory.

Bell Ringer candidates are as follows:

Josh Richardson: 34 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 turnovers

Every previous missed Josh Richardson shot in the Bubble died so that tonight’s version of Josh Richardson could live. When the Sixers quickly lost their second All-Star, J-Rich was the one who decided to show the world the team still has some remaining talent on the roster. Richardson was red-hot shooting the basketball, finishing 13-of-20 from the field and 6-of-10 from 3 for a season-high 34 points. He even ran some successful pick-and-rolls, finding a rolling Al Horford or a cutting Alec Burks.

Josh obviously wanted this win, constantly in the refs’ faces about out-of-bounds calls or non-foul calls. On the final play, Carmelo Anthony clearly grabbed Josh’s jersey, with no whistle blown. It was one of the few things that didn’t go Richardson’s way during this stellar performance.

Alec Burks: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover

Coming off his big performance Friday night, Burks was quiet for much of this game, before exploding in the fourth quarter to nearly carry the Sixers across the finish line. Alec scored 15 of his 20 points in the final period, repeatedly knifing the heart of Portland’s defense to create just enough space to finish a reverse lay-in or earn a trip to the foul line. No Sixers player has raised his stock in the Orlando Bubble more than Alec Burks.

Al Horford: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers

In the span of a week, Al Horford has gone from bench player to back in the starting lineup to possibly now the starting center for at least the time being. Through it all, he has remained a consistent contributor of late, even despite some disagreements with the referees tonight that resulted in foul trouble and one technical foul to his name. Al was feeling it from outside tonight, hitting three of his four 3-point attempts, including one with 12 seconds left to make it a one-point game. We also saw a classic mouse-in-the-house gesture from Horford when he backed down Wenyen Gabriel and banked home a turnaround hook shot.

Mike Scott: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 turnovers

I’ve had plenty of unkind words for Scott’s play during what has been a down season, so I feel it’s only right to point out the solid performance tonight from the veteran. With Embiid injured and Norvel Pelle making a couple bone-headed plays early, Brett Brown turned to a lot of Scott as the 5 in small lineups. Those units fared well, as the Sixers didn’t get killed on the boards in those minutes and the Hive leader played within himself offensively, making a smart cut here and a big 3 there. This version of Scott is one who can find a place in the Sixers’ rotation — good to see him back!