Playing their first game after the active trade deadline, the Sixers took on the Pacers last night in Indiana. Indiana dominated for most of the game as Rodney Stuckey led all scorers with a season high 30 points taking his team to an eventual 106-95 victory. Only so many adjustments can be made on defense on the fly. Trying to fill the voids of KJ and Carter-Williams last night came as a challenge for the most part, but somebody had to pick up the slack. That somebody came in the form of Nerlens Noel.
Noel hosted a block party in the lane last night, totaling 9 rejections. NINE! If that number doesn’t blow you out of the water I guess you’re still recovering from the trade deadline. As we saw on Thursday afternoon, everyone is expendable in some way, shape or form, and Noel clearly doesn't want to be part of the crowd. The only thing I did see a lot of last night was when Noel would get the block, a Pacer would scoop it up quickly and lay it in for two. As great as he did last night, he can’t do all of the dirty work himself. He is in need of some interior D to get the full effect of his shot blocking. If only he had a third arm right? Noel finished up the game last night with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 blocks. Awesome game for the young fellow.
Other impressive games came from Jerami Grant and Luc Mbah a Moute who tied for the team high in points with 16. Also cracking the starting lineup due to the lack of capable bodies was Jason Richardson, who played his first game in almost 2 years. Not a bad showing by any means either as he contributed 7 points and 7 rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
Sunday's game against the Magic will bring another new face to the floor in point guard Isaiah Canaan. Canaan was acquired in the KJ McDaniels trade on Thursday with the Rockets. Hinkie made it clear that Canaan has been in the teams sights for a little while, and has said that he can score the ball effectively. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see that for ourselves when the Sixers travel to Orlando to take on the Magic.
