Sixers Put the ‘L’ in Careless Against Warriors

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Golden State 126, Philadelphia 86 – Box Score

Christmas was a few days past, but the Sixers were still in the holiday spirit Tuesday night, making like ol’ Saint Nick and delivering gifts to Golden State all game long. Philadelphia committed a laughable 11 turnovers in the first quarter, 18 for the half (more than any other team averages for a game aside from, you guessed it, the Sixers), and were finally put out of their misery with a total of 28 giveaways on the night. Those turnovers led to a startling 43 points for the Warriors, 30 more than the Sixers scored off Golden State mistakes. The majority of the Sixers’ miscues were what they would call in tennis, unforced errors. Unnecessary passes into traffic, misguided cross-court tosses that sailed out of bounds, dribbling off one’s own foot: the Sixers were like some sort of cross between a team-wide point-shaving scandal and a real-life Bad News Bears basketball team.

It wasn’t like the Warriors needed any help either; they are an exceptional team and played like it, hence the 40-point margin of victory. Steph Curry made one gorgeous behind-the-back pass after another for a game-high 9 assists, and showed off his lightning-quick release in sinking 3 of 6 shots from behind the arc (13 points). After scoring a career-high 32 points against the Sixers last season, Marreese Speights again earned revenge against his former club, hitting plenty of those mid-range jumpers for a game-high 23 points on 9-13 shooting, adding 4 blocks for good measure. I could go on down the entire Warriors roster because they all looked good against the Sixers, but I can only stand to recall so much about what transpired in this game.

The biggest concern for the Sixers in the big picture is the confidence of point guard Michael Carter-Williams. One game after one of the worst shooting performances in NBA history, MCW looked extremely tentative to engage on the offensive end against Golden State. He didn’t attempt his first field goal until well into the second quarter, finished just 1-7 on the night, with many of those shots being of the ‘the shot clock is about to expire, I absolutely have to shoot this’ variety. There were countless occasions where Carter-Williams was wide open for a jumper and passively swung it, or made a nice drive but got rid of the ball instead of finishing in the paint. I’m glad he’s not forcing things because no one wants to see 2-20 again, but the Sixers need their point guard to play with confidence and act like he belongs out there. He didn’t play that way Tuesday night.

Positive Notes from a Negative Night:

• Henry Sims had a nice evening, scoring a team-high 19 points on 9-13 shooting to go with 7 rebounds. He went through a bit of a slump recently, but I’m still very much in on Sims as a legitimate back-up big man. Any center that can hit a mid-range jumper as well as he can will carve out a career for himself.
• Jerami Grant went 2-3 from behind the arc. Granted, small sample size, but whether he can hit outside shots will ultimately determine if Grant makes it as a pro. Any progress in that area has to be seen as a positive (even if one of the makes was from close to 30 feet at the 3rd-quarter buzzer.
• K.J. McDaniels looked like he cared out there. Even late in the second half, McDaniels was still noticeably giving maximum effort, trying to deflect passes, diving on the floor for loose balls. He also did this to David Lee:

Time heals all wounds Sixers fans. Have a great New Years!