End of the Road Losing Streak: Sixers Beat Pelicans in New Orleans

The last time the Philadelphia 76ers won a road game, Prince was still alive, Mr. Robot was still the hottest show on TV, and President Trump was still something that people could (sort of) afford to laugh about. But after 23 straight away losses, the Sixers were partying like it was Jan. 20 last night in New Orleans, as they outlasted the similarly short-handed Pelicans in another battle of two of the game's great young big men. Final score: 76ers 99, Pelicans 88.

And surprisingly, they did it without a ton of help from Joel Embiid. JoJo was mostly ineffective from the field in this one, scoring just 14 on 5-15 shooting, with three turnovers. That said, he still made his presence felt on defense, with seven boards, four blocks and a career-high three steals, also helping bother Pelicans All-Star Anthony Davis into an 8-21 shooting night. The Process ended up an improbable +27 for the night, though that's not exactly indicative of how good he actually was in this one. 

But just about everyone else stepped up last night. Dario Saric continued his strong recent play with 13 and 5 off the bench. Sergio Rodriguez posted 16 and 8 and remains improbably hot from the field, having made 17 of his last 33 threes over the last six games. Ersan Ilyasova refuses to stop making me look stupid for how useless I claimed he'd be, with his second straight (!!) 23-point game, to go with eight boards and four assists. And someone finally relit the burners under Nik Stauskas, raising Sauce back up to Lightly Chilled after a 14-point (on 5-7 shooting), five-assist, 0-TO night from the field. 

Of course, it should probably only count for half a win against a middling Pelicans squad missing five of their players, including our old friend Jrue Holiday, who was in the early stages of one of his most effective seasons to date before going down with turf toe. But the Sixers still aren't exactly at full strength themselves -- Covington returned in this one, and Nerlens is finally back with the team at least, but he still ain't helping in the box score, and neither is Bayless, Simmons or a still-ill Okafor. Avoiding double-digit-losses in a row is probably the max of we can ask of this squad at this point, but at least it does appear to have been a manageable request.

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