By Sean Kennedy
Chicago 102, Philadelphia 94
Call me a homer or an eternal optimist but there was a point Wednesday night when it seems as though the long metropolitan nightmare would be over: this would be the night the Sixers broke their franchise-record losing streak. Halfway through the fourth quarter, after hanging around with the Bulls and all-NBA first team candidate Joakim Noah all game, Philadelphia finally managed to tie the game. After making a stop on the other end, the entire Wells Fargo Center rose to its feet as Brett Brown called a timeout to set something up. Thad Young implored the crowd to raise its decibel level, and you could see that a win would mean the most to this consummate professional, who’s always given his all even while the team has sunk to Mariana Trench-esque lows during this winning drought.
Alas, victory was not on menu for the Sixers on this night. I don’t know what play Brett Brown drew up, but I doubt it was a wild Tony Wroten fling near the basket. Then, on two of the next three Chicago possessions, three-pointers by Jimmy Butler and D.J. Augustin re-established a cushion for the Bulls, and the Sixers could never quite pull back within striking distance. To their credit, the Sixers continued to fight to the final whistle, as what looked like a goaltending violation that went uncalled would have brought them back within 2 points with 30 seconds left in the game. Nevertheless, the losing streak lives on, now at 22 games, and Coach Brown will have to chalk this one up another learning experience for his young squad.
The Sixers put themselves in a situation to win by taking care of the basketball for a change, only committing 11 turnovers against 15 for Chicago. They were also uncharacteristically hot from the outside, with Tony Wroten hitting his first 4 three-point attempts on his way to 17 points, and Byron Mullens going 2-3 from behind the arc (and adding a two-handed dunk in transition that got the crowd off its feet) to pace the bench with 12. Still, the Sixers only go as far anymore and Michael Carter-Williams and Thad Young can take them. MCW had his usual loaded stat line with 16 points and 9 rebounds, but the best part of his night was 7 assists against 3 turnovers. That isn’t the best assist-to-turnover ratio but it’s a step in the right direction from where he’s been lately.
There’s not much more I can say about Thad Young at this point. He carries the team offensively, leading the Sixers with 24 points and hitting 4 threes against Chicago. Young also took on the assignment of guarding Joakim Noah all night long, despite giving up 3 inches to him. Noah still ended up with pretty good numbers across the board, but he never really seemed to be dominating the game, and the Sixers defense forced him into 5 turnovers. A lot of the credit for that should go to the tireless effort of Thaddeus.
So the Sixers march toward infamy moves along another day. They’ll next talk on the Knicks at home Friday night, which unfortunately is their most winnable game before they would tie the NBA-record for most consecutive losses at 26. The team is certainly playing hard lately and one would think they earn a victory eventually. But in this league, you need to both play hard and have talent, and Sam Hinkie made sure the latter was in short supply for Philadelphia this season. Take some time to watch the NCAA tournament this weekend and dream of a brighter tomorrow.
Notable Observations:
- Everyone remembers Joakim Noah’s dancing during his days at Florida and it’s good to see he’s still able to keep things loose well into his professional career. Noah posed for fans’ pictures before and after the game, chatted with some kids at halftime and had them show off their dance moves to him, and signed autographs after the game before heading into the locker room. Not only is he playing like the league MVP (non-LeBron and Durant division), but Noah seems like a good guy to boot, despite his on-court antics occasionally rubbing people the wrong way.
- It’s very interesting hearing Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau in action for an entire game. The man lives up to his reputation as a perfectionist, calling out every single cut he wants his guys to make on offense, and yelling out defensive switches on the other end, with plenty of expletive bombs dropped in-between. Noah gave Thibodeau the old ‘settle-down coach’ at one point when the head man got a little too worked up about a largely innocuous defensive sequence. It’s easy to see why any sort of ‘tanking plan’ with Derrick Rose out of the line-up would never fly with Thibs.
Tanking Implications:
Facing a Bulls team who’s been among the best in the NBA in 2014, the Sixers took them down to the final minute in what turned out to be an incredibly entertaining, hard-fought contest. The team received great contributions from young guys Carter-Williams, Wroten, Jarvis Varnado, and yes, even Byron Mullens. Plus, with the Bucks failing to win in overtime Tuesday night, the Sixers’ helped them keep pace with Milwaukee at just 2 games back of lottery pole position. 5/5 tanks
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