In his post-game interview with Molly Sullivan, Michael Carter-Williams said, “We played an unbelievable game.” You can say that again.
The Sixers snapped their 17 game skid to start the season, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 85-77 and avoiding tying the record for longest losing streak to start a season by one loss (pause for self-promotion: called it). And boy did they do it in the most Sixer way possible. The tone of the game was set at the opening tip, which actually had to be repeated because the teams lined up facing the wrong baskets. That's not a joke. It was that kind of night.
The Sixers shot 39% from the field, 20% (5-24!!) from downtown, and 69% from the line. The TWolves responded, “We see you AND raise you!” and then shot 35% from the field and 17% from deep. At one point the Sixers were 2-20 from downtown, and really all night it felt like just no one on the squad could hit a shot. The one thing, however, they DID have from the (second) opening tip was hustle. You could tell that the Sixers wanted this game more than the Wolves, as they jumped out to an early 12 point lead in the first quarter and were just incredibly active all night, finishing with 13 offensive rebounds, 12 steals, and 7 blocks.
The Sixers were undoubtedly led tonight by MCW, who had a near trip-dub with 20pts, 9rebs, and 9assts. He had 6 TOs and a bunch of weak drives to the lane, but he really deserves all the credit for this win. On a night where Tony Wroten and Alexey Shved were out with injuries, and guys like Luc Mbah a Moute and Jakarr Sampson we’re logging WAAAY too many minutes running the point, McDubs played 43 minutes and put the team on his back down the stretch in the 4th. “He was very strong in his desire to get us a win,” said Coach Brown afterwards, and it showed. A visibly exhausted MCW kept driving the lane again and again and again late in the 4th, not always getting a pretty finish but knowing full well that he was really the only scoring option the Sixers had. Considering the way he started this season coming off injury, with bad shooting and worse body language, seeing that type of leadership display is really comforting.
Robert Covington deserves some props in this one as well. The D-League MVP logged 31 minutes of the bench, scored 17 pts including 3-6 from downtown and 4-4 from the line. It’s a really crowded rotation for the Sixers right now, but Covington looks like one of our only reliable deep threats along with KJ (the two of them went 5-15, rest of team 0-9). Get that young man some more minutes!
They say winning cures everything, and boy did the Sixers need this one. By finally changing the national dialogue, hopefully the squad can relax a little bit and maybe play more freely. And you have to just feel happy for the youngings, who really did EARN this win. And the fans oh the fans! We needed this win as well, as even the most ardent Hinkie supporter was showing cracks in their pro-tanking facade. No one expected it to get this bad, but no one probably expected an incredibly crappy win over the TWolves to feel this good. So tonight we can rest easy, not having to worry about what the next game brings but rather relishing what the last game provided. For once. I'll give the final word to last draft savior who took the Sixers from the bottom to the top.
Congrats lil homies. Keep fighting and stay strong #Sixer4Life
— Allen Iverson (@alleniverson) December 4, 2014
