The Philadelphia 76ers ended their 2016-17 season with a loss at the buzzer against the New York Knicks. 114-113 was the final score after Nik Stauskas missed a game winning 3 at the buzzer. This season series has been nothing short of awesome with the Sixers scoring only two more points total and the largest margin of victory being 3 points. It's not much closer than that.
The Sixers started off solid, leading by as much as 8 points in the first quarter. They ended up down 25-22 at the end of the quarter.
The Sixers shot over 50 percent from the field for most of the game while the Knicks shot close to 40 percent for most of the first half. How did the game stay as close as it did during the first half? Well, for one thing, the Knicks got extra shots up. They got offensive rebounds. In fact, the Knicks had 7 more offensive rebounds than the Sixers and also had 7 more shot attempts than the Sixers, so clearly the rebounding was making a difference. That was during the second quarter.
By the half, the Sixers were shooting 56 percent from the floor while the Knicks 46 percent. The Sixers were only up 59-56 at the half. Breaking down how this is possible, consider the rebounding. The Knicks grabbed 10 offensive rebounds. The Sixers grabbed 5. This gives the Knicks a +5 advantage in potential attempts. Turnovers as well. Both teams had 8 turnovers, so that's a split. The Knicks had 6 more shot attempts, so it dragged down their percentage, even though the Sixers made only one more field goal.
The idea here is, for the second half, the Sixers needed to limit the amount of attempts the Knicks got. If they do better on the defensive boards, then their defense overall isn't overworked and, with the combined high shooting percentage, they could win the game by about 12 points or so. For the record, both teams had 13 defensive rebounds by the half. So, this rebound difference is literally from offensive boards.
Alex Poythress started the game for Dario Saric, who was sat out with injury precaution. He had 12 points on 67 percent shooting. He also had 4 rebounds and an assist. For the first half, TJ McConnell was the worst shooting starter on the floor for the Sixers. He only shot 50 percent. Yeah. Fifty-freaking-percent. That's just how hot the starters were.
So far, the game lived up to the hype of the previous meetings this season. Would this continue in the second half?
The Sixers led by 11 during the third quarter. By the end of the quarter, they were up 87-78.
Justin Anderson really had a solid game. Not only did he set a new career high in points during the third quarter, but he did a good job defensively on Carmelo Anthony. By the end of the third quarter, he had 21 points and was shooting 89 percent from the floor. You really can't ask for more than that.
The Sixers lost that lead and the score was tied at 94. The streak lives where each game a team blows a double digit lead.
Here we go. With three minutes left, the score was tied at 104. Poythress knocks down a jumper to go up 106-104. Marshall Plumlee slams to tie it back up. Poythress makes another shot. Ron Baker knocks down a 3 to give the Knicks a 109-108 lead. Tiago Splitter scores to give the Sixers a 110-109 lead. Holiday knocks down a 3 pointer to give Knicks a 112-110 lead. Stauskas responds with a 3 pointer of his own to give the Sixers a 113-112 lead with 31.1 seconds left.
By this time, it's commercial. This writer took a gulp of root beer and got ready for the rest of this game. Stauskas Maurice Ndour knocks down a jumper to give Knicks one point lead with 18.3 seconds left. Stauskas had a chance at the buzzer but missed the 3-pointer. All of the tankers rejoiced.
Justin Anderson really had a game. What a way to end a season. He had 26 points on 90 percent shooting. That's not a typo. That's 9-0. Nine. Zero.
This season series between these two teams was pretty cool. This entire season was full of ups and downs. February could have gone better. But, there's still some hope. It's time to look ahead to May and hope the balls fall into place as needed and then hope health prevails finally for a team who has struggled to stay healthy since they got that guy from the Lakers.
We here at Sixerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly want to thank you for hanging with us during the 2016-17 Sixers season. Keep following us for NBA Draft coverage and what should be an interesting off-season. Go Sixers!
