By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Minnesota 100, Philadelphia 95 – Box Score
Monday night’s game was billed as a battle between the top two big men in this past summer’s draft. In the showdown between the first and third overall picks, #3 Jahlil Okafor was the clear victor over #1 Karl-Anthony Towns. That was the good news for the Sixers.
The bad news was that while their other top-3 pick has still yet to take the court as a professional, the Wolves had another recent top pick ready to take control of the game down the stretch. Behind 17 fourth quarter points from Andrew Wiggins (of his 32 total), Minnesota came back from a late 6-point Philadelphia advantage, sending the Sixers to 0-15 on the season.
After a Hollis Thompson jumper gave the Sixers a 91-86 lead, Wiggins would personally score the next 7 points of the game, and then assist on a Kevin Martin three-pointer that served as the dagger in the hearts of Sixers fans everywhere. It was another curious set of late-game decisions from Brett Brown. First, he took Nerlens Noel out of the game with the score tied and 2 minutes remaining. The team also ran an isolation for Jerami Grant with the game basically on the line, with Jahlil Okafor not even getting a touch. Between this game and the contest Saturday night, it’s worth questioning what Brett Brown is thinking in these tight, late-game affairs.
Speaking of Okafor though, he was simply awesome. Jah drew two early fouls on Towns, thereby limiting the Wolves rookie to just 8 minutes played, and 2 points and 2 rebounds in the first half. Towns would pick up a quick 4th foul early in the second half and finish the night with just 6 points and the 2 boards total.
Meanwhile, Okafor rampaged through both Towns and Gorgui Dieng, accruing 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in the first half alone, before ending his evening with 25, 12 , and 2. He was clearly motivated in this game going against another top rookie, not only showing aggression on the offensive end, but actually looking like he was paying attention defensively.
Another encouraging sign for the Sixers was the continued strong play from Robert Covington, who looks completely recovered from his earlier knee injury. Bob dropped 18 points on 6-14 shooting, with the Sixers offense just looking so much more fluid when he’s out there to help space the floor. Covington was also terrific on the defensive end, not only swiping 3 steals but just staying active and in good position throughout the game.
With an elusive win yet again slipping through their fingers, the Sixers are now just 1 loss away from tying the all-time worst losing streak of 26 games (of which they already have a share), and 3 shy of the record 18 straight losses to begin a season. If you pointed to the first three and a half quarters of each of the past two games, you would say they have to get off the schneid soon. But then you remember the last 6 minutes of each game, and you really begin to wonder. We’ll next see how it goes down Wednesday in Boston.
Other Game Notes:
- Nik Stauskas suffered a left knee sprain in the first half and wasn’t able to return to the game. It was reported after the game that he wasn’t able to run on it and he’ll undergo an MRI Tuesday. Another tough break for a Sixers squad beset by a host of injuries already this season.
- T.J. McConnell still has not attempted a free throw on the season. He’s been the starting point guard for the majority of the season. It’s astounding. The man absolutely refuses to look for his own shot in the painted area, many times to the team’s own detriment.
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