The Good:
- What an overall excellent week. Three wins in one week is a first in a long time for Your Team, Your Town, Your 76ers. Each victory deserves to get its own little mention:
- Monday against the Cavilers got the monkey off the Sixers’ back in their home struggles. Entering the game 0-14 at home, and staring at a 17 point-deficit, Brett Brown’s bunch put both long odds aside and put away both deficits. Tony Wroten’s game-winning basket with 9 seconds left sent the Wells Fargo Center home more satisfied than any game in the last nine or so months.
- Friday’s game was thrilling in its own right for similar reasons. The Sixers trailed by 13 in the second half and used another big fourth quarter to claim the game. This was especially encouraging for Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel, as they made it happen. First, the made up the deficit with a Tony Wroten three ball to turn the game around. Then, with the game tied late, MCW found the rookie Noel with three seconds left, and Noel found the basket for a go-ahead jam.
- Saturday’s game was a combination of resilience and some pretty solid defense. The Sixers trailed for much of the game—all but 35 seconds in the first half—but again used one of their now familiar comebacks to not just take the lead but build it up by a comfortable margin. Even when Indian clawed back, the Sixers stayed with them punch-for-punch the remainder of the way. They impressively had a response for each Pacer answer and played solid defense on the final possession, especially by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
The Bad:
- Looking back, it’s almost hard to believe this game actually took place this week because of the other great moments that sandwich it. The 97-77 blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks was embarrassing. Not embarrassing that they lost to the Bucks—a team Jason Kidd has greatly improved—but it was the way it happened. At one point, Brett Brown reportedly yelled, “Seriously!” after a series of passes that led to a poor shot by Robert Covington.
- Though it’s from the same game, this deserved special mention: The Sixers shooting Wednesday night. Philadelphia was a pathetic 2 for 25, or 8%, from three. Both makes came in the second quarter. So when the shots weren’t working in the second half, apparently the plan was “Keep trying until they do!”, though they never did.
- The team had to suspend Andrei Kirilenko for failing to show up to the team. He has had about 5 weeks to do so and has yet to do so after being traded from Brooklyn. So, Kirilenko will not receive his remaining salary until he reports and the Sixers will have a tougher time getting him back into shape to use him as an asset for trades.
The (more) Good:
- Frankly, it didn’t feel right having an ugly section this week because it was not an ugly week at all.
- Here’s one last piece of good news: Joel Embiid continues to work on his shot in practice and before games.
Around the NBA:
- The Knicks have topped the Sixers in terms of tanking. Last Monday’s trade (shipping J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to Cleveland) started it, and Saturday’s game (trailing 89-44 after three quarters) confirmed the tank. The race for the most ping pong balls is heating up!
- As mentioned above, Cleveland needed to trade for Smith and Shumpert. Why? They’re really struggling of late and are missing LeBron James with a knee/back strain. They’ve lost five in a row and eight of the last nine.
- Atlanta has widened the gap in their Eastern Conference lead. The Hawks now lead the Raptors by 3.5 games as they are currently riding an eight-game winning streak.
- Minnesota, like the Knicks, have lost 15 games in a row entering this week.
