Interesting:
The injury is worse than I knew and Augustin is starting in place of Jennings...
Also, Tony Mitchell is starting in place of Johnson at SF!
Mitchell has some good defensive ability and is rated 73 overall... interesting call.
Embiid has 4 points early but Drummond and their other guys are killing us inside. We call timeout with 7:33 to go. Down 13-7.
We go on a 8-0 run after the T.O with a steal and breakaway fancy dunk by Leonard and a few nice plays by MCW.
Caldwell-Pope gets to the line to end our run. Tied at 15.
Jennings comes in and scores quickly. Embiid doing work down low.
At the end of 1, we are down 27-26. Embiid with 9 points. Leonard with 7.
8:33 - They build a 35-28 lead. We call time and get Embiid back into the game after a very short rest.
We go on a 6-0 run led by a 3 from Leonard. 35-34.
Sheesh. Augustin hits a VERY deep 3.
Caldwell-Pope with a pair of 3's off screens.
They go on a 10-0 run in which none of our shots fall. A 4 minute dry spell ends with a basket inside by Embiid. We are down 47-39.
At halftime, we are down 52-44.
Caldwell-Pope leads all scorers with 16. Drummond with 9 points, 6 boards and tough interior defense.
Jennings with 8 points in 9 minutes.
Embiid leads us with 13 points and 5 boards.
Leonard with 12 points.
MCW with 10 points and 3 assists.
6:18 - We were down by 10, but a pair of quality plays by Leonard cuts the lead to 6. Down 61-55 as our shooters are cold but our defense is good.
3:55 - Leonard with an acrobatic move in the lane to get an amazing lay-up and the foul. We are down 65-62.
Noel with a block.. Leonard to Butler to MCW for the dunk!
Butler misses a 3 that would have given us the lead and Jennings finds Johnson for a corner 3. 68-64.
Holloway with a horrible turnover. Jennings with a 3 at the other end. Holloway has had a VERY bad game tonight.
Down 73-66 after another bad play by Holloway. I decide to pull him and go with 4 wing players.
Leonard with a 3 and then MCW with the old fashioned 3 point play to make it 73-72 but they respond with a 3 from Johnson off a screen.
The quarter ends with a block by Drummond that leads to a Clarkson fastbreak dunk.
Down 78-72 at the end of 3.
7:49 - McDaniels with a few baskets and then MCW into the lane draws a foul and ties the game at 84. Leonard has 25 points but is exhausted. He will get a break. MCW is very tired too. We go with Turner, Butler, McDaniels, Holloway and Embiid (Noel is exhausted and not playing great on his bad ankle.)
Embiid with a block... to Turner who finds McDaniels on the break for a HUGE dunk! 86-84 lead!
Millsaps with a basket and the foul.
Holloway with an offensive board, putback and the foul!
Millsaps rises and shoots over Holloway. Tied at 89.
Turner with a 12 footer.
Butler forces a miss from Caldwell-Pope.
Embiid gets the board.
McDaniels misses a 3 and Millsaps with a basket down low. Tied at 91. 3:44 left.
Turner with a bad pass for the turnover.
Millsaps with a fade away shot in the post. 93-91 lead.
McDaniels hits a 3 to give us the 94-93 lead!
Turner with a steal and breakaway dunk!!!
McDaniels misses a 3. Butler is exhausted.
For the stretch run, we go with MCW, Turner, Leonard, Noel, and Embiid.
WE lead 96-93 with 2 minutes to go...
Millsap with a basket and Leonard misses at the other end.
They go to Millsap again and Noel forces a miss. Embiid with the board.
MCW misses a tough jumper. Millsaps draws a foul in the post on Embiid. He makes the FT's to give them a 97-96 lead. 1 minute left...
MCW beats Jennings off the dribble and gets into the lane drawing over Drummond.. he threads the needle for a dunk to Embiid!
Embiid blocks a shot by Millsaps.. .fast break... MCW to Turner for the dunk!
MCW forces a bad shot by Jennings! Embiid with the board.
We run clock... MCW with a tough buzzer beater as just shoots over Jennings. 102-97 lead with just 6 seconds left
Leonard forces a miss by Jennings. We win 102-97 and steal game 1 at the Palace!
Leonard is the player of the game with 27 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. He shot 11 of 19, 3 of 6, and 2 of 3.
MCW with 18 points, 6 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 15 and 6 of 7 from the line.
Embiid with 19 points, 9 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. He shot 9 of 10.
Butler with 12 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Turner with 11 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.
McDaniels with 9 points and 3 assists in 12 minutes.
Holloway shot 2 of 10 and finished with 5 points and 9 boards.
Noel with 3 points and 9 boards in 24 minutes.
Millsap led them with 28 points and 10 boards. He shot 10 of 23 and 8 of 9 from the line.
Johnson with 14 points. Caldwell-Pope with 16 points but we shut him down in the 2nd half.
Drummond finished with 9 points and 14 boards along with 2 blocks.
We held Augustin to 3 of 15 shooting.