Michael Carter-Williams returned to Philly for the first time since moving to the Bucks earlier on in the season and received one of the most intense welcome’s of his NBA career on Monday night. It was only fitting that he put in a performance that would be ranked among his career best as the Bucks defeated the Sixers 107-97.
Carter-Williams scored a game-high 30 points alongside ten combined assists and rebounds with three steals and a block against his first ever NBA team.
The reaction was always going to be quite edgy with some fans expressing their displeasure at the return of MCW but for the most part, the 10.5k fans showed their gratitude for last years rookie of the season. The Sixers themselves went one further and gave Carter-Williams with a video tribute during a timeout in the first quarter. A great show of sportsmanship.
It wasn’t just MCW’s explosive return that sent the Sixers to defeat, 29 turnovers as a team really didn’t help. Despite this though the lead for most of the game until MCW really turned up the heat in the third. Once again though you have to feel that things would have been different if Nerlens Noel, Jason Richardson, Luc Mbah a Moute and Isaiah Canaan were all back in action as opposed to being injured.
Despite the notable absences though, the Sixers looked great for the opening half. Shooting 56.4 percent and scoring 58 points, Milwaukee had to do something if they were going to come out of this with a win…and they did. The second half was an entirely different story as they allowed the Sixers just 20 third-quarter points on 23.5 percent shooting.
The Bucks picked up an easy win as they gear up for the playoffs as the Sixers expand their second worse streak of the season. They will close out the year with a game against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. A team who wiped the floor with their opponents in recent games to claw their way into a playoff berth. Can the Sixers provide yet another upset or is this really all she wrote?
