It felt like we were in for one of those nights. A loooooong night. A night where Michael Beasley was hitting one-footed baseline fadeaways. A night more frustrating than the stretch of the Schuylkill Expressway that spans Manayunk to Conshohocken.

I was waiting for the “fire Brett Brown,” crowd to rise from the murk and spew their vile untruths, though they might have had a point last night, because the Sixers were pretty rough for the first three quarters, allowing the Knicks, a 46.4% shooting team, to hit at a 58% clip and do pretty much whatever they wanted on the offensive end. Keep in mind, this was a New York team that hadn’t won at Madison Square Garden since January 30th.

But I sat there thinking, “there’s no way New York keeps hitting at 58%, right? They can’t keep this up, right?”

Right.

The Knicks came down to Earth in the 4th quarter and the Sixers just kept chipping away, first cutting the lead to 7, then to 4, then down to 1, before finally, ultimately getting over the hurdle for good with a Joel Embiid free throw at the 2:45 mark.

Philly won the final period 35 to 19, hitting 6 three-pointers on 10-19 shooting. New York went 6-18, shooting just 33% in the final stanza as the Sixers finally cranked up the urgency meter by a few notches.

And I think you saw a pretty steady mentality throughout. They didn’t start that well, but they also didn’t allow things to become wildly out of hand. They were down 13 at one point, but just kept slogging away, helping their case with 19 offensive rebounds and a respectable 14 turnovers, which is below their season average of 17.

Keep in mind, this was 48 hours removed from a game where Indiana finished +20 in total shot attempts, 95 to 75, a gulf created by ball handling and offensive glass issues. The Sixers cleaned it up in both areas last night to finish 91 to 87 in shot attempts, getting four more looks than their opponent.

When I knew it

I think the sequences to end the 3rd quarter and begin the 4th jumped out as moments where I said, “hmm.. maybe they’re gonna get this done.” 

They pegged 19-year-old rookie Frank Ntilikina twice for a five-point swing that would cut the Knicks’ lead in half, beginning with this easy DHO/screen and curl:

https://youtu.be/b5U7U0If9dY?t=6m31s

Not a bad job of getting through that screen, but Belinelli gets him off his feet and hits the jumper.

To start the 4th quarter, they used Belinelli again, this time to set a back screen on Kyle O’Quinn for the Joel Embiid alley oop:

https://youtu.be/55Lk4H2GaPg?t=2m20s

And-1.

Just great stuff on both of those plays, a real statement to end the 3rd and start the 4th, and some belief, at least for me, that they would be in this game down the stretch. They looked dialed-in from that point on.

Ho hum, another triple double

Two in a row for Ben Simmons, who finished with 13, 10, and 12 last night.

His passing was excellent and he shrewdly picked his spots to both attack the rim and dish to the teammates.

Look at the zip on this ball:

Seriously, that’s a laser of a chest pass.

One of the things we don’t talk about enough, and I mentioned this on the podcast this morning, is that there’s a really fine line between an amazing pass and a horrible turnover. Courtney Lee is maybe an inch or two from batting that ball down and running a 2v1 break in a one-point game. Instead, Simmons puts so much velocity on that ball that he tilts the floor with a hockey assist for JJ Redick, who extends the lead to four.

Think about it. That’s a high risk, high-reward play, and the Sixers got the latter out of it. That’s why I don’t beef about the turnover issue as much as everybody else does, because I see some of the passes the Sixers are trying and I see a lot of Golden State in those sequences.

When it works, it’s highlight-reel stuff. And when it doesn’t work, it’s ghastly. But you’re willing to live with it if you rip off enough plays like the one above.

The margins are just very, very tight. The alternative is that he slows up there and runs a play instead, but that’s just not how this team is built.

Simmons had some interesting things to say last night post-game, actually probably the longest locker room quote I’ve ever heard from him:

That’s alright, that’s 100% fair, and it shows me that he takes stock of his public perception.

Again, I think when we talk about Ben Simmons improving as a scorer it’s not because we’re focusing on a negative, it’s because we see some elite potential in him. I see LeBron James stuff in Ben Simmons, but he doesn’t get there without developing a jump shot. The reason it’s a topic is because people simply forecast great things for the kid.

In the meantime, he can be assertive in the fourth quarter in other areas, which he absolutely was last night. I showed you the pass above, which didn’t even register on the stat sheet. He added another assist, three defensive rebounds, and drove to the rack twice for dunks around the six and seven minute mark.

Play your game Ben, just be aggressive doing it, because aggressive Ben makes a difference in all phases of the game.

When it counts

Some other notes on the 4th quarter performance:

  • JJ Redick: 8 points, finally hit a clutch 3 (but somehow missed some free throws)
  • Dario Saric: 6 points, 6 rebounds, one turnover
  • Joel Embiid: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, one turnover, one soul-crushing block and staredown of Emmanuel Mudiay
  • Robert Covington: 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, one block (he had a really nice shooting night)

I mean, look at the balance in contribution there. You starters gave you point totals of 4, 6, 6, 6, and 8 in the final period, adding rebounds, assists, and blocks. It was a team effort and not some “dump the ball to Embiid and watch him do it all” routine. Joel was not asked to dribble two defenders while four players stand around staring at him; they really shared the load and got it done together.

It doesn’t help determine who the go-to guy is in late game scenarios (it’s probably still Joel or Redick), but when a variety of guys can step up and make big plays, that’s only a positive sign.

There is no process

The Knicks are… what? What are they? Are they rebuilding? Are they tanking? Are they trying? Are they trolling?

I won’t waste too much time on them, but I’ll let other people tell you how bad they are:

https://twitter.com/TermineRadio/status/974463305493417984

Happy Friday.