Brandon Apter (@bapter23), Managing Editor
Both Nerlens Noel and JaKarr Sampson left Wednesday night's game early due to injury, but the Sixers were comfortably able to hold off the Orlando Magic for a 96-87 win, their sixth of the season and their first against an opponent in the Eastern Conference. Jahlil Okafor led the Sixers with 20 points and five rebounds while point guard Ish Smith tallied a double-double, scoring 13 points to go along with 11 assists. The Sixers reserves were huge in the win, scoring a combined 51 points. Hollis Thompson (17 points), Isaiah Canaan (15 points) and Grant (12 points) combined for 44 points off the bench.
Meanwhile, Robert Covington picked up some slack on the rebounding end with Noel out of the game. He grabbed 11 boards in addition to his eight points. For the Magic, point guard Elfrid Payton, who was originally selected in the 2014 draft by the Sixers, led all scorers with 21 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Philadelphia had a strong night all around, shooting 48.6 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from three-point range. Despite being outrebounded 47-41, the Sixers managed to block eight shots, three coming from Robert Covigton.
With the Sixers picking up win number six, they are slowing creeping up on the Lakers, who have nine wins on the year, to become the team with not the worst record in the league. That would be great for the team, but would definitely lessen that chance of the Sixers winning the draft lottery. That's a discussion for a later date, here's some reaction from last night's win, including an update on Nerlens Noel, who left the game early with blurred vision and a headache. The second year F/C also tweaked his ankle on Jason Smith's foot earlier in the game, but was able to return…
Brett Brown on the team effort after being down Noel, Sampson and Stauskas:
“In-game to lose Nerlens and JaKarr, already being down Nik Stauskas, I thought it was a great team effort,” head coach Brett Brown said. “You look at Covington with 11 rebounds. You look at Jerami’s five blocked shots. You look at the timely baskets that Hollis and Isaiah Canaan made. Jahlil carried us in the first half and made some big baskets and had a few good defensive plays at the rim in the second half. It was a team effort led by our defense.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Ish Smith on the Sixers play against the Magic:
"That was a team effort," Smith said. "One through 15, we all played good basketball." [CSNPhilly.com]
Jahlil Okafor comments on being able to get the win, despite being short a few players:
“We’re just a close-knit group,” Jahlil Okafor said. “We’ve got each other’s back. We know what Coach wants from us and we just went out there and executed.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Nerlens Noel on his headache, blurred vision that caused him to exit the game before the half:
“I started getting dizzy. I didn't want to catch the ball. I didn't know if I'd be able to,” he said, also noting, “I didn't want to go back out there and just hurt my team in any type of way, not being able to react.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Brett Brown on Noel's early exit:
“It’s an outlier, it’s not something that has happened before,” Brown said of the headache. “He has had some stomach problems at the start of games and halftimes. He gets wound up. With Nerlens, he’s got his own way of dealing, I think, with some anxiety to go play and compete. I look at it as, in a twisted way, a good thing he cares that much. Sometimes it gets the better of him. I think this is one of those examples. He’ll be fine though. He feels better now.” [CSNPhilly.com]
JaKarr Sampson on his left hip injury:
“It gets stiff and it really stings,” he described. “It hurts.”
Sampson iced his hip after the game. He will receive treatment on Thursday when the team is back in Philadelphia. He does not know if he will have to miss Saturday’s game against the Celtics, but is determined to fight through it.
“I know I’m a tough guy,” he said. “I’m not going to let this hold me back. I’m going to be on the court as soon as I can.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Nik Stauskas on his ailing left shoulder injury that kept him out for a third straight game:
“I played four-on-four yesterday in practice. That was my first time playing since I hurt it last Thursday,” he said before Wednesday’s game. “Shooting’s really not the problem. I can shoot, I can handle the ball a little bit. It’s just the other things, like fighting through screens, hitting someone in the post, boxing out, using force with that shoulder, it’s still bothering me. I just felt I would be doing the team a disservice if I was out there just because I can’t give 100 percent right now.”
“Unfortunately, it just hasn’t gotten better quick enough,” he said. “Saturday is three days away, so hopefully that’s a good amount of time.”
The Sixers return to action against the Celtics on Saturday night at 7PM.
