Grizzlies Maul Sixers 121-91, We Think

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

#respect pic.twitter.com/Zsltidw4eb

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 12, 2016

Memphis 121, Philadelphia 91 – Box Score

When Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the game was not televised. All we have to remember arguably the most momentous achievement in NBA history is an audio recording of the fourth quarter and a picture of Wilt holding up a piece of paper with “100” written on it.

I’m sure we will look back with equal amounts of awe and regret at the preseason game in Memphis when Joel Embiid scored 13 points in 13 minutes during the first half. Tuesday night’s game was not televised by either the Sixers or the Grizzlies, or even via Periscope or Facebook Live. Honestly, if some fan in attendance had just streamed the game from his phone, he or she probably could have increased his social media following by a factor of 100.

As mentioned, Embiid was solid, making 3-7 from the field, and grabbing 5 rebounds to go along with 1 block. Most encouragingly, he repeatedly drew fouls early against Marc Gasol and JaMychal Green, hitting 7 of 8 free throws. That’s been a point of emphasis for Brett Brown so good to see Embiid getting easy offense at the charity stripe. The rookie also showed off his range with one long jumper on the baseline, and finished this emphatic put-back, which is basically our 21st century version of the piece of paper photo.

Seeing is believing. https://t.co/WuoNCYUUhN

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 12, 2016

The two teams went into the locker room at halftime tied at 53, but Memphis blew the game wide open in the third, outscoring the Sixers by 24 in the period. I’d love to have a more nuanced explanation of what went wrong, but following along on an online radio stream can only get you so far. I will say that Zach Randolph hit 4 of 6 threes, which is a bit of a revelation. I guess in exchange for agreeing to come off the bench this season, Z-Bo was granted full license to fire away from downtown. That should make for fun basketball this season in Memphis.

The Sixers will be back in action Thursday night against the Wizards. Fans will once again be able to watch the action, which makes sense considering we’re talking about putting people on Mars in around 15 years. The least a multi-billion dollar organization can do is offer video content.

Other Game Notes:

• Another rookie had his best game of the preseason, as Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot paced the Sixers with 13 points and a team-high 9 rebounds. TLC was very active on the offensive glass, grabbing 5 o-boards, and also knocked down 1 of his 2 triples. Guys like Hollis Thompson and Nik Stauskas, through a combination of ineffective play and injury, have not stepped up this preseason, so an opportunity for back-up minutes on the wing is there for Luwawu if he keeps up the strong play.
• Cat Barber made his Sixers debut and scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting in 13 minutes. I just don’t see how can do enough to catch up after missing the first three games due to injury. TJ McConnell has continued to play well, and was steady again against the Grizzlies, recording 9 points on 3-5 shooting and recording a team-high 5 assists. TJ was also the only Sixer not to have a negative plus-minus (he was at 0), for whatever that’s worth. I hope Cat catches on with the Sevens because I feel like there might be something there, but I don’t think he fits into the equation right now.