Listless Start Dooms Sixers in Boston

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Boston 107, Philadelphia 96 – Box Score

After having one of their better stretches of the season over the past week, the Sixers team that took the court Friday night had a much different look to it. The organization opted against signing Larry Drew through the rest of the season following his second 10-day contract, while more crucially, Michael Carter-Williams sat out the contest to rest his sprained toe. The Sixers entered play 0-9 on the year without MCW in the lineup; early on, it looked like they were somehow trying to lose 9 games at once.

With Brett Brown down both his point guards, he made the decision to return to JaKarr Sampson as the starter at the one-spot. The latest Point Karr experiment went about as well as the Yugo. The team looked completely discombobulated offensively, struggling to score just 15 points in the first quarter, while the overall malaise carried over to the defensive end. Suddenly, the Sixers found themselves down as much as 26 points midway through the second quarter.

Fortunately, for fans still tuning into the game, there was another option to quarterback the team. After alluding to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ earlier in the day, Tim Frazier didn’t get off to such a hot start in his first NBA game. Much like B-Rabbit getting jumped by the whole Free World crew, Frazier experienced his share of struggles in the early going, missing his first 5 field goals (he eventually finished 2-9 from the floor). Still, needing some semblance of playmaking out on the court, Coach Brown decided to go with Frazier to start the second half; the recently-signed rookie did not let him down.

As they often have of late, the Sixers made a huge run behind a barrage of long-range bombs. This time it was Frazier orchestrating the offense to find his teammates along the perimeter, eventually helping the team trim the deficit all the way down to 3 points. It was a historic debut for the former Penn State guard, who joined Carter-Williams, Damian Lillard, and Jason Kidd as the only players in the last 30 years to record 11 assists in his NBA debut. In fact, Frazier was the only one to pull off the feat coming off the bench. Not bad for a guy who drove down from playing D-league games in Maine this week.

Of course, Frazier needed guys on the other end of those dimes, and a trio of players in particular rose to the occasion. Hollis Thompson continues to make Holliswood 2015’s premier destination in the Philadelphia area. He hit 4-5 threes to finish with 16 points; he’s now shooting 14-21 behind the arc over his past 4 games. Luc Mbah Moute scored a team-high 18 points, making 3-6 from three himself, the first time in his career he’s hit 3 or more threes in a game. Finally, no talk of three-point prowess would be complete without Robert Covington, who added 3 triples on 8 attempts to chip in 16 points.

Unfortunately, while the Sixers had that deficit down to 3 twice in the fourth quarter, they had no answer for the Celtics young frontcourt. Jared Sullinger finished with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, including 5 straight points for the Celtics to stretch their lead back out to double figures late in the fourth. Meanwhile, Tyler Zeller came off the bench to tally 16 points and 9 rebounds. It was unfortunately not a happy homecoming for Nerlens Noel, who looked a bit nervous and/or overanxious in his first professional game in his hometown Boston. Not only did Noel struggle to contain those guys defensively, but he was just 1-5 from the field and committed a game-high 4 turnovers. He didn’t look anything like the guy who has been anchoring a much-improved Sixers defense much of the season.

Ultimately, this game probably wasn’t one the Sixers should have won, considering they were missing both their point guards from the prior game and played a guy 35 minutes who the majority of the team had met the day before. Fans can take solace in the fact that the team continued its never-say-die attitude and almost completed a historic comeback. Carter-Williams is expected to be out once again when the team is back in action Saturday night against Charlotte. Moral victories and unlikely standout stars may have to do for now.