Welcome in to another edition of The Day After with Apter. I am Brandon Apter, your studly host for this lovely story. Let's get to it, shall we?
Following Friday night's game at home against OKC, the team immediately departed for Detroit for the second part of their back-to-back, with the Pisons, losers of ten straight. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to nab win number two, but it would be tough coming off of a very physical game against Oklahoma City.
Fast Forward: Why waste time going through the first three and a half quarters when the most exciting moments came within the final minute? Down 100-97 with just under 15 seconds left, the Sixers drew up an in bounds play to Hollis Thompson, who drained a fade-away three pointer to tie things up with 13.4 seconds left. As Marc Zumoff says, the Sixers 'locked all windows and doors' during the final moments of regulation on defense. Brandon Jennings was covered heavily by Michael Carter-Williams and his shot attempt came up well short and to overtime we went!
The teams had trouble scoring in overtime to start, with Detroit taking a 101-100 lead on a free throw with just over three minutes to play. That would be the only points they'd get though. The Pistons went 0-for-11 from the floor in the extra frame. Henry Sims hit a jumper to put the Sixers ahead 102-101 and they wouldn't look back. With 26.4 seconds left, Nerlens Noel made a floating shot in the paint, putting the Sixers up three. Both MCW and Robert Covington made a pair of free throws each to seal the game, 108-101.
Top Performers…
- Hollis Thompson – He was 0-for-3 in the second half before his game-tying three ball that sent things to overtime. In what has been quite a roller coaster season for Thompson offensively, he went 5-for-9 last night for 13 points, but the biggest bucket came with 15 seconds left in the fourth.
- Robert Covington, also known as Big Shot Bob, broke his career-high in points for the third night in a row. After scoring 17 against Minnesota, he led the Sixers with 21 points (8-13 FG) against the Thunder before dropping 25 points on the Pistons last night. He made nine of his 14 shots in 29 minutes off the bench last night and is becoming a very valuable asset on a young Sixer team. The former D-Leaguer, Big Shot Bob is averaging 18 points per game over the last four in just over 26 minutes.
- Michael Carter-Williams didn't start off too well after he came back from injury, but has posted some crazy numbers over his last stretch of games, despite a poor shooting percentage. Last night, MCW scored 20 points and dished out 15 assists to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks. It was his best shooting game since his return, hitting eight of his 12 shots and made four of five from the line. Though he did have seven turnovers, the reigning Rookie of the Year has posted some great assist numbers over the past few games. Thus far in December, Carter-Williams is averaging 20 points, 11.3 assists, 8.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. Safe to say he is starting to show signs of returning to last year's form, thanks to increased playing time with Tony Wroten on the mend.
- KJ McDaniels - He may have only scored six points on 3-for-10 shooting, but McDaniels made his presence felt on the defensive end, swatting away four shots to go along with two steals. KJ also took down nine rebounds, seven of which were on the defensive end. He leads this year's rookie class with 1.5 blocks per game.
- Rebounding Efforts - If the Sixers were going to win this game, they were going to have to make some noise on the rebounding end against Detroit's front court of Andre Drummond, Josh Smith and Greg Monroe. The Pistons rank fourth in the NBA in rebonds with 44.9 per game and the Sixers outrebounded them 53-47.
Quote of the Night…
The Sixers won, but many say it wasn't really that big of deal since it came against a Pistons team who came into the game with 10 straight losses. Their coach felt like this win showed the Sixers toughness as the game got into the later stages.
"To be in this kind of game was a fantastic experience for them," Brett Brown said of his team being in such a game on the second night of a back-to-back. "They delivered. I give them a lot of credit because I thought they were tough down the stretch."
"Henry's jumper, Nerlens' floater and Nerlens' presence at the rim going down the stretch," Brown said of the key factors in overtime. "Luc Mbah a Moute goes the distance as a veteran player playing the three and four [positions]. He was tough and he was disciplined. Our interior players all contributed." [CSNPhilly.com]
Rough third quarters continue…
The Sixers turned the ball over seven times in the third. Detroit scored 10 points off of those blunders. The Pistons also outrebounded the Sixers in the third quarter, 11-5 and outscored them by eight, 31-23.
Apter Thoughts - The win may have come against the Pistons, but seeing the Sixers be able to stay with it late in the game and come out with a victory is huge, no matter who they play. Their defense was air tight down the stretch and we continue to see great signs from the teams' young talent. Remember this season isn't about the record, but rather the progress of Nerlens Noel, KJ McDaniels, Michael Carter-Williams and others that are a part of the Sixers future. They've shown plenty of of positives from their past few games and hopefully that continues against a tough opponent on Wednesday night.
Up Next - After an exhausting back-to-back, the Sixers have a little break before their next game on Wednesday in Atlanta against the 12-6 Hawks. Atlanta has an 8-2 record in their home arena and have been getting big contributions from former Sixer, Kyle Korver, who leads the NBA with 53 made three-point shots.
CUE IT! The Sixers won, so you know what that means…old school anthem time!
Brandon Apter is a writer for Sixerdelphia.com
