Sixers

Will the Sixers Ever Lose Again? – Observations from Philly 123, Knicks 108

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 3rd, 2022 · 9:01 AM EST

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It was looking a little hairy there in the first half. Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett couldn’t miss. Joel Embiid became frustrated and took a technical. “Maybe it’s not their night,” I mumbled to myself while popping the pacifier back in my newborn’s mouth for the 7th time in 15 minutes.

Fortunately for the Sixers, the rest of the Knicks team couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean while standing on the Ocean City boardwalk. Doc Rivers’ squad cut into that lead and then took over in a big way, out-scoring New York 38-19 in the third quarter, and that was pretty much all she wrote.

“It’s funny, we were shooting 50-percent at halftime, so it wasn’t our offense,” said Rivers about the slow start. “We didn’t get any stops, defensively, early on. I didn’t think we played with great energy in the first (half) as well. I thought the last six minutes of the second quarter kind of changed the game, got us back in it. (We) got some fast breaks, got up the floor, and then in the second half we got to spread the floor and play in transition, offensively. But a lot of that game because we started getting multiple stops.”

It’s true. They just didn’t seem to start with a lot of energy. Rebounding, loose balls, hustle plays – all of that seemed to be going in New York’s direction.

But when they kicked it into a higher gear, they finished with a nice and balanced set of contributions across the board:

• Joel Embiid: 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists (7-15 from the floor, 2-4 from three)
• James Harden: 26 points, nine rebounds, nine assists (8-13 from the floor, 2-6 from three)
• Tobias Harris: 14 points, seven rebounds, one assist (5-10 from the floor, 2-3 from three)
• Tyrese Maxey: 25 points, four rebounds, three assists (7-12 from the floor, 4-6 from three)
• Matisse Thybulle: 10 points, two rebounds, one assist (4-6 from the floor, 2-3 from three)

And then 31 free throw attempts from Harden/Embiid/Maxey to finish off an efficient night. They are getting to the line so frequently that the Sixers are averaging team FGA in the 70s because they are just getting hacked constantly.

“I think we have been doing a really good job,” said Harden after his home debut. “I think two things that we harp on that’s really key for every team is transition defense and rebounding, and I think if we do that at a high level more times than not it’s going to be very difficult for teams to beat us, because offensively we get pretty good shots each possession. Tonight we were a little careless with the ball as far as turnovers, but for the most part we did get a really good shot up and you’ve got two playmakers, well our entire team can play-make, but two elite playmakers in me and Jo to where we can take the pressure off a lot of our teammates.”

Tyrese Maxey

Everybody is excited about James Harden and Joel Embiid, but I’d actually like to talk about Maxey instead. What a leap he’s taken in year number two. It’s incredible.

He was asked after the game about what changed offensively for him in the second half:

“Well, James came up to me and asked me if I was going to play today and I told him, ‘Yeah,’ so you know having guys like James, Jo, Tobias… you know Spence (Spencer Rivers, development coach) came up to me talked to me a little bit, too, in the back just saying that I’ve got to be aggressive, I can’t go stretches like that being passive. I’ve gotta help these guys out and we’ve gotta help these guys out as a team as much as possible.”

They’ve done a great job with his development this year. Shot selection is fantastic. His three-point shooting is up 10 percentage points. And he’s averaging 17 points per game, but from eight last year.

Look at this:

https://twitter.com/Kevin_Kinkead/status/1499379948418748421?s=20&t=WMJoa_uWJaWGaE-Kg5MdCg

How many floaters in there? Two? And one mid-range jump shot? They’ve really worked the mid-range stuff out of his game. He had a habit of going to that floater as a rookie, and now they’ve got him finishing plays at the rim, working through contact, and moving off the ball. I’m definitely not the first one to make the comparison, but he does remind me a lot of Tony Parker. He’s like Parker if Tony played in a modern, analytics-focused NBA. And when you play him off the ball with James Harden running point, you really see why he entered the draft as a combo guy that NBA teams hadn’t entirely deciphered yet. They weren’t totally sure what his NBA role was going to be because he did a lot of things well across the board.

Look at this for a shot chart:

Attack the rim or fire away from three. They’ve really augmented his game analytically, and it’s showing in these wins.

“He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever been with,” Embiid said of Maxey. “He shows up, it doesn’t matter if it’s a back-to-back, he’s going to show up the next day. He’s going to come in at night and get some work in and that’s why I’ve always known that it was going to happen and I’m just happy to see him playing the way he is right now, but he has a long way to go.”

Knicks are back, baby

I watch this clip at least once per day. It’s amazing:

“We had De Blasio, we had Cuomo, it was rough shit, but we have the Knicks!”

Other notes:

• Tobias Harris had 14 last night on 50% shooting, which more than fine, but he still looks a little lost out there in terms of settling in with a new lineup. You see him paired with Harden in those second unit minutes, and that’s where he’s gotta be finding his volume. Ask for the ball and fire away. They ran a lot of that high pick and roll/brush cut, and I can’t remember him doing a lot of that type of screening or moving in the past.
• They still need a backup big. Millsap playoff minutes? Sounds concerning.
• Shake Milton showed some flashes last night. Otherwise, Georges Niang, Danny Green, and Furkan Korkmaz really need to do nothing other than fire up catch-and-shoot threes.
• The Sixers are the only NBA team this season to score 120+ in at least four straight wins.
• It was their fourth 50-45-80 game of the year.
• Harden finished one assist and one rebound short of a triple double. Did you take the triple-double boost at +425? I did. Motherfucker.
• I know the Knicks stink, but still. The Sixers may never lose again. They get a good Cleveland team on Friday night, and then it’s Miami (B2B), Chicago, and Brooklyn. Ben Simmons will like be listed as OUT because he hurt his back playing Horizon Forbidden West.