By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Philadelphia 105, Denver 98 – Box Score
After tough losses to Atlanta and Cleveland, the Sixers finally caught and break and didn’t play a team on a double-digit winning streak. The results were eye-opening. Denver coach Brian Shaw was openly wondering if his team was trying to lose even prior to the game (with Shaw basically trying to deflect blame now for when he’s looking for a new job soon), and the Nuggets certainly looked the part of a disinterested team, especially in the early going. A guy like Kenneth Faried, who about 6 months ago was at times the best player on the court for the US national team at the World Cup, is finishing the game 0-6 for 0 points in 19 minutes. The Sixers went 8 minutes in the second quarter without making a field goal and actually extended their lead over that time period. Everything is not golden for the Nuggets and the Sixers were only too happy to take advantage.
Unlike their previous sluggish starts, the Sixers began this contest on fire, shooting 68.4% in the first quarter with a healthier looking Michael Carter-Williams recording 7 assists in the opening frame. They extended their advantage at halftime behind the continued reemergence of Hollis Thompson, who played about a perfect a half as a player can, shooting 6-6 from the field, 4-4 from three, and 3-3 from the line for 19 points. Thompson ended the game with a career-high 23 points and is now 10-16 from downtown over his past three contests. It’s been a rough sophomore campaign for the former Hoya, as he missed 11 games with the respiratory infection and worked with the team to completely rework his shot for a quicker release. Tuesday’s game reinforced the idea that Thompson is finally on the other end of that tunnel.
The Sixers led by as many as 28 in the third quarter, but gave their fans a scare with an extremely sloppy fourth quarter. With Danilo Gallinari looking as spry as he has all season coming off an injury (season-high 22 points off the bench), Denver crawled all the way back into single digits, even closing within 6 points in the final minute. Carter-Williams was the main culprit; he had a pretty good line overall (15 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists), as he was exceptional most of the game. However, after he had played the role of facilitator so well earlier, for some reason he started to force things in the fourth. MCW went 2-7 from the field and committed 3 of his 4 turnovers in the fourth; that play and the scoring of Gallinari and Wilson Chandler (19 points) gave fans PTSD flashbacks from the Memphis game. Fortunately, the Sixers had played too well for the first 2 and a half quarters to let this one get away.
After a grueling stretch, the Sixers finally get a couple days off, next taking on the Celtics in Boston Friday night. We’ll see if the team can keep up their strong level of play, and maybe even play a full 48 minutes for a change.
Other Game Notes:
- Robert Covington did not have his best shooting night, going just 4-12 from the floor, but still finished with 17 points (mainly by getting to the line often, making 7-8). This type of game isn’t unusual for Covington and illustrates the benefits of the Hinkie/Morey offensive school of thought. When you’re either taking all your shots behind the arc or at the rim (where you’re more likely to be fouled), you wind up with a solid points-per-possession figure, even when your traditional FG% might not be top-notch.
- The Sixers have a decision to make this week on whether to retain Larry Drew II for the rest of the season. We’ll have to wait and see whether he sticks around or the Sixers opt to move on to someone like Nate Wolters. If this was Drew’s last game with the team, he had a pretty great swan song with this wicked crossover of Jameer Nelson.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!