By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Philadelphia 105, Brooklyn 95 – Box Score
With a noon start Sunday following a day and night spent in New York City (including a team trip to see Hamilton!), the Sixers were unable to get into the flow of the game early on in Brooklyn. Shots weren’t falling for anyone aside from Nets center Brook Lopez, who dropped 18 of his 26 points in the first half. Brooklyn went into the locker room with a double-digit lead, at which point the Sixers must have thawed out, because they came out in the second half like a different team.
The Sixers had a huge 3rd quarter in which they outscored the Nets, 32-16. Nik Stauskas went off for 13 points in the frame (finishing with 15 on the game). With Sergio Rodriguez back from injury, Stauskas was relieved of back-up point guard duties, allowing him to concentrate on knocking down triples (3-4 on the game from behind the arc). He was so hot at one point that even Richaun Holmes was imitating pouring sauce on the ball.
The Sauce is muy caliente pic.twitter.com/OL8GEmaw16
— max (@MaxOnTwitter) January 8, 2017
After the Nets briefly retook the lead at 85-84, the Sixers closed things out with a 17-2 run. That surge was propelled by Robert Covington, who shook off another poor shooting start by scoring 9 points over that stretch, including this exclamation point on the game.
RoCo poster nbd
» https://t.co/96oJLNUn9I pic.twitter.com/Vj3kokS40F
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 8, 2017
Covington’s final line was 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals. Even when his shots aren’t falling, RoCo’s defense has been on another level. The steals and deflections are a constant, and the fact that he can guard (smother, really) any player between the opposing 1-through-4 is remarkable. There have been a couple games lately where we’ve seen signs of him breaking out of his shooting funk. When that happens and he reverts to his usual level of offensive production, watch out.
Through it all, the guiding force for the Sixers was once again Joel Embiid, who finished with 20 points on 8-14 shooting. Even on top of some of his eye-popping performances, it’s crazy how consistent the rookie’s play has become. Not only is he the team’s focal point on offense, the anchor of an outstanding defense (when he’s on the court), but Embiid hasn’t even been having off nights (at least lately).
Joel Embiid is the first player to record 6 straight games with at least 20 points in fewer than 30 minutes, per Elias
— Sportando (@Sportando) January 8, 2017
Embiid also doesn’t lack for going after lofty goals, as his quest for love should have already told you. With the team having won 3 of 4 games, he said after the win that the team still has a chance to make the playoffs. The Sixers are 7.5 games out of the 8th seed, so even though they now have a better record than Brooklyn and Miami, I’ll keep a closer eye on Markelle Fultz than a potential first round series with LeBron and company.
Still, the Sixers have already matched their win total of 10 from last season, and have one of the most dominant, charismatic, young stars in the game. Who am I to tell Joel Embiid what he can and can’t do in this world?
We’ll next see Wednesday against the Knicks.
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