By Sean Kennedy
Philadelphia 111, Boston 102
It’s no secret by now that Sixers rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams has New England roots. Over 150 friends and family were in attendance at the Garden Friday night to watch him take on the Celtics and it wouldn’t surprise me if he had Skylar Grey running through his head announcing he’s coming home. In a similar situation when the Sixers first visited Boston this season back in January, MCW was noticeably pressing throughout the game, shooting just 4-14 from the floor and uncharacteristically forcing the action. However, this time around, the rookie let things come to him, and came through with one of his best performances of the season in what turned into a comfortable Sixers victory down the stretch.
Carter-Williams finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-14 shooting, as he continues to progress on getting into the lane and finish with an array of floaters and attacks at the rim. He’s never going to be a great shooter so being able to use his size to score over smaller guards in the painted area will be crucial to Michael’s ability to be an effective two-way player. Also encouragingly, he had 6 assists against just one turnover, as he looked poised in leading the offense and avoided the careless mistakes with the ball that have often plagued him throughout his rookie season. Defensively, he and Elliot Williams harassed Rajon Rondo and Jerryd Bayless into a combined 13 turnovers between them. On a night the Sixers were dominated on the glass (losing the rebounding battle 49-34), having 10 fewer turnovers than the Celtics was the difference in the game and Carter-Williams played a big role in that on both ends of the floor.
The other star on the night was starting center Henry Sims, who showed Sims City has a branch office in the greater northeast. The former Hoya shared high-game honors with Carter-Williams, recording a career-high 24 points by getting to foul line a whopping 18 times, sinking 14. Time and again, Sims would get the ball around the foul line and would take one or two hard dribbles to the rim and draw the contact. With the Celtics not possessing any sort of shot-blocking presence on the interior, Sims was wise to go right to the rim and not shy away from attacking the Boston bigs. Sims doesn’t possess elite athleticism, but just does the little things well, is an able passer and capable of hitting the mid-range jumper, and knows his defensive assignments. I was intrigued by him when the Sixers first acquired him and he grows on me more with each passing game. His emergence has proven to be one of the best storylines of the season.
The Sixers were able to shake off some poor play in the first half because of the Celtics’ abysmal shooting in the first quarter. Boston took over 4 minutes to score their first points of the game as offensive basketball didn’t look to have improved too much since James Naismith and company weren’t allowed to dribble and still had to use ladders to get the ball down out of the peach basket after a made shot. However, the Sixers showed little urgency on the glass as they allowed 13 offensive rebounds in the first half. Between the second-chance points and Bayless hitting 4 threes for 18 first-half points (he finished with a team-high 23), the Celtics were able to hang around and go into the locker room with a lead despite the Sixers controlling the action on both ends. Philadelphia cleaned things up in the second half but they’ll need to have a complete effort if they’re going to stay within striking distance Saturday night against a Brooklyn team surging up the Eastern Conference standings.
Notable Observations:
- The broadcast team mentioned a stat which took me aback a little bit when I heard it. Apparently, Hollis Thompson leads all rookies in 3PT% at 39%. Now, I knew he led the Sixers in that department but always just chalked it up to the team putting up more bricks than a game of minecraft. This rookie class has been largely disappointing but that’s still a pretty remarkable stat and a great credit to the organization for finding an undrafted player and molding him into that role. Thompson is another quality rookie for the Sixers to hang their hat on alongside the probable rookie of the year in Carter-Williams.
- With this victory along with Evan Turner’s game-winning buzzer beater in January, Boston is the first opponent the Sixers have beaten more than once on the season. With a 2-1 record against the Celtics, the season’s penultimate game against them in Philly looms large as the Sixers’ best chance to win a season-series against somebody. I couldn’t think of a better opponent for the team to do that against (well, maybe the Knicks).
Tanking Implications:
I detailed before the game how the worst overall record was effectively out of reach and this win put the nail in that coffin. Still, Michael Carter-Williams played Rajon Rondo evenly which is incredibly encouraging; you could make the argument that he out-played the Boston star given Rondo’s 7 turnovers. With Henry Sims showing off a hyper-aggressive attacking attitude on offense, and Elliot Williams continuing to look like he’s figuring some things out, the Sixers had plenty of positive things to build upon for the young guys. Big picture, it’s better to have these types of performances rather than listless tanking efforts down the stretch. 3/5 tanks
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