PHILADELPHIA _ The Portland Trail Blazers are a bad matchup for the 76ers when the Sixers are healthy. So you kind of knew going into Saturday's game that the Sixers, without All-Star center Joel Embiid, could struggle.
And they did as the Blazers prevailed, 130-115, in a matinee at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers (38-22) suffered blowout losses in both of this season's games against Portland (36-23) without Embiid. The Blazers rolled to a 34-point rout on Dec. 30 in Portland. Embiid missed both games due to soreness in his left knee.
This game marked the second of three consecutive games the Sixers are expected to play without Embiid. They are to travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans on Monday night at the Smoothie King Arena. Embiid will be reevaluated next week and could return in time for Thursday's game against the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
On this day, Ben Simmons tried to will the Sixers to a victory. The All-Star point guard had a season-high-tying 29 points to go with 10 assists and seven rebounds. The Sixers, however, couldn't overcome Embiid's absence, especially on the defensive end.
Jusuf Nurkic had 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting for Portland. The 7-foot, 275-ponder also grabbed 10 rebounds for his 28th double-double of the season. All three of the Sixers available centers _ Boban Marjanovic, Jonah Bolden and Amir Johnson _ and reserve power forward Mike Scott tried to defend the player nicknamed "The Bosnian Bear."
The only real competition for him came from Simmons. And that was when the two exchanged words while Simmons was on the foul line with 5 minutes, 48 seconds left in the third quarter.
The TV audio picked up Simmons saying, 'You talk a lot of (stuff) for being (trash)." They both received technical fouls.
Simmons was later involved in an altercation with Portland's backup center, Enes Kanter, with 9:16 left in the game.
Simmons bumped into Kanter as Simmons scored a layup. Kanter fell to the floor. He immediately got up and walked after Simmons. Scott had to come to his teammate's defense, and Scott and Kanter received double-technicals.
The Blazers (36-23) also had a commanding 19-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. Fourteen of their offensive rebounds and 14 of 19 second-chance points came in the first half.
Portland took command of the game by outscoring the Sixers, 41-26, in the third quarter.
