PHILADELPHIA _ The 76ers made a resounding statement.
They showed a sellout Wells Fargo Center crowd and a national TV audience how they stack up against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Sixers showed why, like Milwaukee, they were a preseason favorite to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
Heck, they looked destined to reach the NBA Finals after Wednesday's 121-109 rout of the Bucks. The Sixers improved to 23-10 after the much-anticipated Christmas Day game.
Joel Embiid finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Tobias Harris (22 points), Josh Richardson (18 points), reserve Furkan Korkmaz (16 points) and Ben Simmons (15 points, 14 assists, three steals, two blocks) were the other double-digit scorers.
The Sixers made 21 3-pointers on 44 attempts to tie a team record. They also benefited from an off-shooting night by Giannis Antetokounmpo. The reigning league MVP finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. However, he made just 8 of 27 shots and missed all seven of his 3-point attempts.
The forward came into the game averaging a league second-best 31.0 points to go with 12.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks.
On Wednesday, Khris Middleton paced the Bucks with 31 points.
But this was huge statement by the Sixers.
Milwaukee has the league's best record at 27-5 record. The Bucks came into the contest winners of three straight and 21 of their last 22 games.
But it was hard to gauge just how good the Sixers were. They had been inconsistent, out of sync, injured, and have had their deficiencies exposed against a zone defense.
Yet coach Brett Brown has said it would take until after Christmas for the Sixers to find a rhythm. Well, that time is now, and his squad played like a contender.
All things considered, including level of opponent, the first two quarters marked the Sixers' best half of basketball this season.
They shot 51.0% _ including making 11 of 22 3-pointers (50%). Embiid had 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Richardson added 16 points while making 4 of 7 3-pointers, while Harris had 12 points. The Sixers also did a pretty good job against Antetokounmpo, who had 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting.
The Sixers cruised to a 69-48 halftime cushion.
Things only got better for them, extending their lead to 28 points (95-67) on Simmons' layup with 1 minute, 57 seconds remaining in third quarter.
But the Bucks went on a run to pull within nine points twice late in the game. The second time came on Middleton's 3-pointer with 1:20 left to make it a 118-109 game. However, the hosts held on to their 12-point lead after Al Horford's 3-pointer with 43.4 seconds left.
The Sixers led by as many as 29 points in this game.
Antetokounmpo received a technical foul with 6:25 left. He fell underneath the basket and felt he was fouled. He remained on the court for a couple of minutes during a break in action. After getting up, he rushed over at the referee to yell and was given the technical.
