Last night, the Sixers went up against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Superstar Russell Westbrook returned to the team and posted his fourth straight triple-double. The Sixers fell 123-118 in overtime, blowing a 16-point lead in the third quarter.
The highlight on the Sixers end of things was a career-night for Isaiah Canaan, who has been deemed as replacement for Michael Carter-Williams. The Sixers point guard scored a career-high 31 points (10-16FG) and hit eight three-pointers last night, which was just one less than Dana Barros' team record for three-pointers in a game. Canaan hit his first five three's.
Since joining the Sixers, Canaan is averaging 13.4 points, 3.3 assists and 2.4 rebounds in just under 29 minutes per game. He spoke with CSNPhilly.com about his recent play after last night's game.
“I’m just trying to get my groove,” Canaan said. “I know I was supposed to be playing a lot better. I’m my biggest critic. I know I can play a lot better than what I have been. It felt good to see the ball actually go through the hole tonight.”
Another notable performance from last night's game was that of veteran forward, Jason Richardson. In six games since returning from a long absence, the 34-year-old is averaging 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. While most veterans would like to be on a team that is contending for a title, Richardson has really settled into a leadership role on this young Sixers team.
“We definitely can build on this,” Richardson said. “There’s a lot of positive things we did, a lot of negative things, but I think we continued to play, we made some good plays on offense, defense we’ve got to be a little smarter, but this is definitely a game we can look at and get better off.”
“We made some mistakes out there, but we learned from it,” Richardson said. “That’s what this whole season is about: learning and building for the future.”
Nerlens Noel has looked very sharp over his last five games, averaging 11.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. He scored eight points, pulled down 13 rebounds, blocked five shots and had four steals in last night's loss to the Thunder. He's also improved on his free-throw shooting. Prior to the All-Star Break, Noel was making just 56.1% of hit shots from the line. Since then, he's sunk 75% of his free throws. Also, since the All-Star Break, Noel is averaging 12.1 points, nine rebounds, 3.5 blocks and two steals per game
Jordan McRae Joins Delaware 87ers
Earlier this morning, the Delaware 87ers announced that they have acquired Sixers 2014 second round pick, Jordan McRae. After being drafted by the Sixers, McRae opted to spend his first year overseas in Australia for Melbourne United. He averaged 19.9 points in just under 30 minutes per game and finished the season second in scoring in the National Basketball League. During summer league play, McRae averaged 21 points per game.
According to a series of tweets from Derek Bodner of Liberty Ballers, McRae signed a D-League contract, so he will not take a spot on the Sixers roster. Bodner also mentions the Sixers are the only NBA that can sign McRae from now until at least 2016. He goes on to say that when a drafted player signs a contract with a non-NBA team, the team retains exclusive rights to the player for a year after the conclusion of the non-NBA contract. As such, no NBA team other than the Sixers can call up McRae this season.
Here are some highlights of his play for Melbourne United:
