Sixers’ Can’t Climb Stifle Tower in Loss to Jazz

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Utah 89, Philadelphia 83 – Box Score

Rudy Gobert’s ‘Stifle Tower’ nickname might be a bit gimmicky, but boy, is it ever accurate. Like the famous landmark in his native France, Gobert looms over everyone around him, just physically dominating the entire landscape of the court. His increased minutes following Enes Kanter’s depature have helped the Jazz to a 6-2 record since the All-Star Break. Friday night, the Sixers found out why, as Utah’s defense put the boys in red, white, and blue on lockdown. The 83-point total doesn’t even tell the whole story, as Philadelphia scored 9 garbage-time points in the final minute of the game.

Although he recorded just one block, Gobert altered Sixers shot attempts nearly every time they entered the paint. I’ve never seen so many teardrop floaters from a team. You could almost literally see the thought process in each player’s head as they approached him shift from aggression to caution. Gobert also gobbled up 15 rebounds; he now sports an other-wordly 38.6 defensive rebounding percentage over his last three games, including this one. If he ever figures out how to do stuff like this offensive play more regularly, the league will tremble with fear:

https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsWith Gobert making the lane an actual restricted area, the Sixers took to the perimeter, hoisting up 32 three-point attempts. Unfortunately, they didn’t find much success, making just 10 of those, mainly due to off nights from a pair of their better shooters. Robert Covington returned to action after missing some time with a right elbow contusion and the elbow was clearly bothering him in his 18 minutes off the bench. Bobby Buckets went just 1-8 from the field and missed all 4 of his three-point attempts. Also, Jason Richardson appeared to misplace his magic shoes that transported him back to 2005, following his 29-point effort against the Thunder by going scoreless in his 27 minutes. Richardson shot 0-10 and was also unsuccessful on 4 triples.

Aside from a solid 14 points from Luc Mbah a Moute, the best offensive efforts came from a pair of reserves, as the Ish Smith-Thomas Robinson pick-and-roll really sparked the Sixers during a couple stretches. Smith was yo-yo-ing Trey Burke around the court defensively and looked to have great chemistry with T-Rob; the well-traveled point guard finished with 14 points on 6-13 shooting and 7 assists against just 1 turnover. Robinson continues to be an unleashed ball of fury whenever he takes the court and recorded his first double-double as a Sixer. He dropped 11 points and 12 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Brett Brown commented after the game that Robinson is forcing him to give him more time; you could see why when he brings energy plays like this one:

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Defensively, the Sixers really did a nice job, keeping them in the game. Gordon Hayward had a typically strong outing, tallying 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, but Philly silenced much of the Jazz offense on the evening. The biggest reason for that is the continued growth of Nerlens Noel, who also double-doubled with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high 6 steals. That statline was another in a long list of season highlights for the rookie.

Once again, @NerlensNoel3 joins some exclusive company. pic.twitter.com/SFyvkx3tlM

— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) March 7, 2015

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Noel now has double-digit rebounds in 4 of his past 5 games, a great sign considering one of his purported weaknesses was his inability to grab boards among stronger opponents down low. Regarding the steals, we already knew how lightning-quick his hands are, which is why it’s more than his shot-blocking ability that makes Nerlens an emerging elite defender in this league.

All in all, it was a good effort from the club; the Jazz are playing very well right now and Covington and Richardson aren’t going to combine to shoot 1-18 most nights. With the loss, the Sixers are now tied in the standings with the Knicks, although they’ve ahead by percentage points having played two more games. However, it wasn’t a good night for the Sixers other draft pick prospects, as the Lakers blew a second-half lead to Memphis, Orlando beat Sacramento, and Miami lost by 2 to Washington (the Heat are in danger of dropping down too far and the Wizards winning hurts the OKC pick). The Sixers are right back in action tonight against Atlanta, who just beat Cleveland handily last night. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about the team’s lottery odds being hurt tonight.