Bulls the Sixers Latest Victim in 107-104 Thriller

By Sean Kennedy

Tail-end of a back-to-back against a rested opponent, 20-point deficit against one of the best defensive teams in the league, these things are just small roadblocks for a Sixers team unconcerned with public perception and just looking to go out and play an exciting brand of basketball. When Spencer Hawes hit a long jumper in the closing seconds to stretch the lead to three, the Wells Fargo crowd erupted in pandemonium, every face reflecting the ‘Is this really happening?’ feeling on any rational person’s mind.

For the first half of the game, it looked like the Sixers were falling victim to fatigue after having played the night before in Washington. The team was extremely slow on defensive rotations, and some good Chicago ball movement led to 24 points in the paint in the first quarter alone. And on those occasions the Bulls did miss, they were able to track down seemingly every loose ball (17 offensive rebounds in the game).

However, Philadelphia tightened things up in the second half, and with Chicago limited to one-and-done looks from the outside (3-14 on threes), the Sixers were able to climb back from a large deficit. With Michael Carter-Williams playing like an all-star and Hawes, Thad Young, and Evan Turner all hitting big shots, Philadelphia shocked the world for the third time in a week.

Box Score

Notable Observations: 

• Another night, another premier point guard bested by Michael Carter-Williams. Like in Washington Friday night, MCW waited until the second half to really step up and take control of the game. The Sixers were down 18 points in the third quarter with 9 minutes left in the third quarter when the rookie hit two three-pointers as part of his 13 points in the frame. Defensively, Carter-Williams helped hound Derrick Rose into 4-14 shooting and 8 turnovers. It was another encouraging performance for the Sixers first-round pick.
• Thad Young went 3-4 from behind the arc as Taj Gibson dared him to shoot from the outside; it was the first game he hit multiple threes since March 7, 2010. Despite the relative success in this contest, I’m still largely against the Thad Young outside shot experiment. Thad seems to be much more effective offensively when he adheres to the old Doug Collins ‘electric fence’ strategy. However, I understand the thinking that it’s the perfect year to see if he can develop that part of his game.
• Tony Wroten continued to be the only capable scoring option among the Sixers bench unit. He only went 4-11 from the field but generally has to create shot opportunities out of nothing and does a pretty good job with it. Wroten did go 3-6 from behind the arc, as well as reject a Derrick Rose drive back into the center of the earth, and have a sequence where he drained a three, stole the ball on the other end, and threw an alley-oop pass to James Anderson about 5 feet too high. Everything about Tony Wroten makes for a fun viewing experience.
• Brandon Davies made his NBA debut, playing 2 minutes and banking in a long jumper the first time he touched the ball. Both Zumoff and the larger twitter community tried to make a Wells Fargo Center/bank joke. No one succeeded.

Tanking Implications: 

If this keeps up, we may have to replace the tank scale with the Michael Carter-Williams unstoppability scale (I also don’t care if that’s not a real word; it makes as much sense as the Sixers starting 3-0). Still, as much fun as every one of these slaps in the face of general logic are, it seems like the team might be setting itself up for a 30-52 finish with Aaron Gordon as the prize, rather than putting itself in a position for the golden goose in Andrew Wiggins. So I’m going to keep living in the moment and enjoy these good times, and let the tank scale reflect the more rational part of my brain. 3/5 tanks.