LinSanity Scorches the Sixers

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

With Sam Hinkie (presumably) poring over spreadsheets, wondering what more he could have done to boost the Sixers’ lottery chances and cursing the day he signed Ish Smith and livened up the offense, he received help from an unexpected source. Jeremy Lin, former international sensation and now overpaid backup on a rudderless Lakers team, made like it was throwback Thursday and carried LA to victory like his New York LinSanity days of old.

The game was a back-and-forth affair heading into the final quarter; the Sixers held a slim 1-point lead and based on their recent play, it was reasonable to expect them to hold on down the stretch and earn their third straight victory. That’s all well and good under normal circumstances, but the Sixers haven’t been working under normal circumstances since Sam Hinkie stripped the roster to gun for more ping pong balls. A win against the Lakers meant the Sixers would pass them in the standings, a switch that would further diminish the potential of their own first-round pick, while also all but guaranteeing they would not receive LA’s protected 1st-rounder should the teams finish the year in those spots.

Jeremy Lin swooped in and saved the day though, scoring 12 of his game-high 29 points during a 20-4 Lakers run to start the 4th quarter. Lin added 5 rebounds and 5 assists on the night, regularly abusing the Sixers in both the half court and transition, and topping the highlight reels with a sweet no-look pass for a Wes Johnson dunk.

On the other end, the Sixers went 7 minutes without a field goal in the first quarter, thanks both to the rim protection of LA’s Ed Davis (11 rebounds and 4 blocks) and good old-fashioned awful shooting by Philly (Isaiah Canaan particularly stood out going 1-12 from the field on the game). In these tanking times, might as well give Canaan the game ball for a night like that one.

So for one more night at least, Sixers fans dreaming of a Okafor, Towns, or Russell donning the red, white, and blue can sleep easy. Philly will have another critical meeting with the Lakers on March 30th, but first, they’ll head to Sacramento Tuesday night. When the Kings visited Philadelphia recently, DeMarcus Cousins went off for 39 and 24. In a twisted way, Sixers fans might hope for an encore.

Other Game Notes:

Thomas Robinson tallied team-highs of 14 points and 8 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action. I still can’t understand why T-Rob doesn’t get more burn from Coach Brown. Maybe Brett is really bothered by the couple of selfish plays Robinson makes on the offensive end each game? Or perhaps the team is trying to keep his stat lines down to limit his value when he hits the open market this summer? I don’t know what it is, because Brown has always coached to win games, and giving Robinson more minutes would seemingly be an easier path to victory.

The Ish Smith to Nerlens Noel alley-oop is officially a thing. There were multiple d(Ish)es against the Lakers and it’s really fun how Smith just throws it up in Noel’s direction. It’s crazy how in sync those two guys are having just played a month together.