The former Duke Basketball superstar, J.J. Redick, led the Philadelphia 76ers to a comeback victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.
After a very tough loss on the road against the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day, the Philadelphia 76ers needed to lick its wounds and head out to Utah to face the Jazz who throttled the Portland Trail Blazers on Christmas night.
The 76ers got off to a rough start, down by seven points at the end of the first quarter, but the stars of the 76ers showed up for the remaining three quarters and led Philadelphia to a convincing victory, led by J.J. Redick.
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Redick dropped a team high 24 points in the 76ers’ 114-97 victory.
The shooting guard also had the best +/- on the team with a +21 rating. Both Joel Embiid and Wilson Chandler had +17 ratings.
Redick made eight of his 12 shots, making six of nine from 3-point range, as well as dropping his only two shots from the free throw line.
To go along with his team high in points, Redick was the 76ers third leading rebounder with five board behind Embiid’s 15 rebounds and Ben Simmons‘ 14 rebounds.
After the first quarter, the 76ers outscored the Jazz by 22 points, with the 76ers best frame coming in the second quarter where they beat Utah by 12 and took a five point lead into halftime.
The victory improved Philadelphia’s record to 23-13, which puts them in the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, two games ahead of the Boston Celtics who are in the No. 5 seed, but only a half of a game behind the Indiana Pacers for the No. 3 seed and three games behind the Toronto Raptors for the No. 1 seed in the East.
The loss dropped the Utah Jazz to a disappointing 17-19 on the season, which ties them with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference, two and a half games behind the Sacramento Kings for the coveted No. 8 seed in the West.
The 76ers continue its West Coast trip on Sunday, December 30 as the will play the Portland Trail Blazers and for the Jazz, they will host the New York Knicks on Saturday, December 29.