The Sixers survive the heat despite a cold night, 106-102



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The Sixers won a home win against the Miami Heat, 9th, tonight, 106-102.

In the first of only three games, without Joel Embiid (knee pain), the Sixers created the folk hero Boban Marjanovic in his place. Bobi went to work early and often in the paint and on the boards, since he collected 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, 19 and 12 in total.

Throughout the night, the team was hit by mediocre shots deep, finishing only 7-by-26 over a distance of 3 points. To combat this poor performance, the Sixers starters did their best to compensate for this thanks to the charity stripe, shooting 35 free throws in tonight's contest.

Defensively, the team clearly struggled to make themselves known without Embiid, especially when Boban sat down. Jonah Bolden showed considerable rust in his first match after four consecutive DNP-CDs. Bolden was at the bottom of the team minus 11 at night.

In the end, the Sixers were forced to be very small because of Kelly's insertion of Kelly Olynyk at the center; Brett Brown opted for Mike Scott and, for a short time, Ben Simmons at 5 in the bowels of the game. It's pretty cool that the team has the luxury of using their All-Star point guard as an effective center when needed.

The team was backed by solid, if not spectacular, offensive offensives by Tobias Harris (23 points, highest point of the match plus 19), Jimmy Butler (18 points, 8 vs. 8 free-throw) and Ben Simmons 21 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists). Simmons, in particular, showed a truly impressive footwork and strength in the post, repeatedly scoring by Justise Winslow.

For the Heat, Dwyane Wade had 19 bench points, of course.

Next step for the Sixers: the team hosts Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers in town for a Saturday morning at 1 pm.

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