PHILADELPHIA _ The 76ers, by record and excitement level, are one of the better teams in the NBA. But we really didn't know how good they were until Saturday.
That's because they spent their previous five games beating on some of the league's worst teams. They destroyed cellar dwellers and outwardly enjoyed it. What they have not done during that stretch, at no fault of their own, was beat a team with a winning record.
All that changed in Saturday's 120-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ben Simmons recorded his 10th triple-double with 15 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in just 29 minutes, 46 seconds. Simmons and the rest of the starters were originally taken out at the end of the quarter with that plan to rest of fourth in a game that Brett Brown had previously called a "measuring stick."
It marked their first victory against a team with a winning record a 108-97 road decision over the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 1. The Sixers (42-30) also secured their first winning season since finishing 35-31 in the strike-shortened season of 2011-12. This also marked the most wins they've had since going 43-39 during the 2004-05 campaign.
But the Sixers had lost three straight and five of their last six games against teams with winning records before Saturday. The Eastern Conference's fourth-place team is on the verge of clinching its first postseason appearance since the 2011-12 season.
The Sixers had a commanding 29-point lead early in the fourth quarter. However, the Timberwolves reserves got the best of the Sixers bench pulling within 10 points (111-101) on Gorgui Dieng's jumper with 2 minutes, 58 left.
Starters Simmons, Joel Embiid and Robert Covington came back in to play with reserves Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova.
The Timberwolves (42-32) briefly went to a hack-a-Simmons, fouling the point guard on two straight possessions. He went on to make 3 of 4 foul shots to give the Sixers 114-103 advantage with 2:17 left. The Sixers went on to take a 12-point victory.
They had 33 assists on 42 made baskets against the Timberwolves.
Embiid had 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with six rebounds, two assists, three blocks and just one turnover. He dominated the head-to-head battle between two of the league's all-star centers.
Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and 11 rebounds in three quarters of action. The New Jersey native, however, made just 3 of 15 shots.
Meanwhile, Dario Saric added 18 points for the Sixers. The power forward made 3 of 6 3-pointers. Belinelli (17 points) and Covington (11) were the team's other double-digit scorers.
