Revenge of Mo Speezy: Warriors Bulldoze Sixers 123-80

By Sean Kennedy

The day after the Sixers were destroyed by 45 points at the hands of the Clippers, I basically said at least there was no way things could be any worse against the Warriors. But as stripper and street car racing aficionado Justin Bieber would say, never say never, as the Sixers went out and lost by 43 points the next night to Golden State. While the associative property of mathematics would suggest that losing by 43 points is not as bad as a 45-point defeat, Monday night’s shellacking had its own unique vintage of terribleness to put it in the running. That x-factor of shame was the opposing play of Marreese Speights.

Draymond Green received the start for an injured Andrew Bogut, but the bigger impact of the big Aussie being sidelined was increased minutes for the former Sixer Mo Speezy. During the halftime interview, Brett Brown called Speights ‘Marquise’, basically saying he had no idea who this man even was and the team had not prepared for him in the slightest. But oh boy, did Speights ever prepare for the Sixers. Seeking revenge against his former club where he always felt he got a raw deal with his playing time, Speights hit his first 7 shots of the game and dropped 22 points by halftime, already exceeding his previous season-high for a game of 16. Speights, never shy to pull the trigger on offense, was hitting nearly everything from his preferred mid-range area, even dropping back to sink a three, but also muscled his way down low for a couple and-ones. It was basically everything the Sixers ever hoped he could be when he selected him in the first round. His transcendent play helped the Warriors to separate 14-0 and 19-0 runs in the second quarter, as Golden State turned what was still a fairly competitive basketball game into another Sixers tanking special.

However, the Mo Speights revenge train had a couple more stops before its final destination. As the crowd showered him with MVP chants (!), Speights picked up right where he left off in the third quarter, at one point putting a crossover move on Lavoy Allen for a stepback jumper at the top of the key that brought the Oracle Arena to its feet for a standing ovation. He finished with a career-high 32 points on 12-15 shooting, exceeding the 28 he had with the Sixers in December 2009. Already a man with an ego seemingly completely out of proportion to his real-world accomplishments, I have to imagine this game as the physical embodiment of the hall-of-fame player Speights is in his own mind. It was surreal to watch.

That’s not to say the Sixers would have won even if Speights wasn’t enacting his fantasy revenge scenario. All-star Steph Curry was unconscious from the outside, hitting 6 of his 9 triples to finish with 23 points. At one point, Curry tracked down an errant Andre Iguodala pass along the wing and almost in one motion, flicked the ball up to the heavens, only to have it splash through the hoop after taking the crowd’s collective breath away. If ever there was beauty in the rotation of a spinning ball of tanned cowhide, it’s when it leaves that man’s hands. At halftime, the Warriors were 9-14 from three, while the Sixers were 0-8. Golden State would have been just fine riding that wave to success. The Sixers have one more game before the all-star break, heading to Utah for a tanker-on-tanker clash tomorrow night. I’d say there’s no way they can lose by 40 points again, but I’ve been wrong before.

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• Michael Carter-Williams is developing a really bad habit of leaving his feet to make a pass underneath the basket. A few times every game, he’ll drive the baseline and the defense will force him too far under the hoop, at which point, he’ll go up and then look for a teammate to feed. Sometimes he finds a fellow Sixer, but too often he just delivers the ball to an opposing player to start an easy run-out going the other direction. To my eyes, it’s the number one correctable behavior he could eliminate to start bringing those ghastly turnover numbers down. Hopefully, it’s all a part of the rookie growth process.
• Malik Rose has started calling Tony ‘Wreckin’ Ball’ Wroten, which is a nickname I like not only for the smooth alliteration of it, but also because it perfectly describes Wroten’s style of play. The former Husky only heads in one direction (toward the basket) with a full head of steam and doesn’t let anything in his path stop him from reaching that destination. Sure, sometimes the result is a wild errant shot or he loses the basketball along the way, but it’s not up to the wreckin’ ball to consider such possibilities.

Tanking Implications:

A few turnovers aside, MCW was better offensively in this contest, scoring 24 points, many of which actually came against the regulars for Golden State. He was doing well to attack the basket and get to the foul line, making 7 of his 10 attempts at the charity stripe. At 6’6″, MCW is generally going to be much bigger than the opposing guard defending him, so he should really take advantage of that more. Aside from his marginally better play, none of the other young guys did much of note. A recent 3-game winning streak by Orlando now has Philadelphia riding shotgun to Milwaukee with the second-worst record in the league; the team has lost 7 straight. 3/5 tanks