New-Look Sixers Sputter Out the Second-Half Gate

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Indiana 106, Philadelphia 95 – Box Score

One day after lighting a bottle rocket at the feet of the Philadelphia fanbase at the NBA trade deadline, equally exciting and angering disparate parts of the community, Sam Hinkie was in full PR mode Friday. The normally reclusive Sixers GM held a press conference in the morning, did the radio show circuit in the afternoon, and joined the broadcast booth during the game at night, all in an attempt to mollify the portion of the fanbase incensed by the trades of Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels. Still, even more so than the sense and well-thought-out arguments Hinkie brought to the table, what could have really helped his cause would have been a competitive game against the Pacers. Alas, that was not to be, as the Sixers (fairly expectedly) looked sloppy and disorganized in an ugly defeat to Indiana.

There were some new faces, but the same set of problems for the Sixers, as they turned the ball over 12 times in the first half to fall behind by 18 points at the break. Some of it was surely do to the learning curve integrating two new faces, as the long-time-injured Jason Richardson and recently-acquired JaVale McGee (more on them later) were both playing their first game with the club this season. That still doesn’t explain stuff like Henry Sims looking like he just got off a 10-day bender, shooting 0-4 with 3 turnovers by repeatedly letting Luis Scola just take the ball out of his hands. There was one sequence where Scola stole the ball thanks to Sims’ lethargy and went down the court for a lay-in, while Sims committed the foul hard enough where the refs are forced to call it, but not nearly hard enough to affect the shot. He immediately started walking along the baseline as if he wanted to pull himself from the game.

If people try to argue that wouldn’t have happened with Carter-Williams still out there, I have a 20.1% turnover rate to show them. One area both he and McDaniels likely would have helped though, was guarding reserve guard Rodney Stuckey, who somehow went off for a season-high 30 points. Stuckey was repeatedly able to get into the lane to finish at the rim or earn trips to the free throw line, shooting 10-16 from the field and 8-8 at the charity stripe. He went on a personal 10-0 run in the third quarter to give the Pacers a 24-point lead. Sadly for Stuckey, he left the game in the closing minutes with what looked like a bad left ankle sprain.

With the Sixers’ bench being badly outplayed by the Pacers’ second unit (Luis Scola also chipped in 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals), Indiana would go on to lead by as much as 25 in the fourth quarter, A late garbage-time surge by the Sixers made the score look somewhat respectable, but they might have lost by 40 if not for the inspired play of Nerlens Noel.

Playing without former AAU teammate Carter-Williams, Noel did not let the departure affect his game at in the least (maybe there was some truth to the rumors of a rift between them?). The big man went off for 12 points, 9 rebounds, 9 blocks, and 4 steals, joining David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Tyrus Thomas (!) as the only players to put up those numbers in a game. Noel was ultra-aggressive on the offensive glass and looked like Nightcrawler on the defensive end, teleporting wherever the Sixers needed him to be. The rebuild becomes much more palatable when you see Noel making plays like this:

The other young Sixer who came to play was Jerami Grant, who showed no signs of rust from the layoff or gloom from the departure of good friend K.J. McDaniels. Grant had 9 points on his first 3 shots, draining a three, and finishing two and-1 plays at the rim. He cooled off a bit from there, but still finished with 16 points on 5-11 shooting, attacking the rim with a vengeance to cap off his night:

All in all, you couldn’t have expected too much from a young team the day after management jettisoned two of the more likable guys on the squad. Hopefully, the insertion of Isaiah Canaan into the lineup Sunday helps stabilize the offense a bit. Moreover, keep in mind that this season is still very much about player development (a.k.a. lottery balls), even more so now that it’s crucial the Sixers not pass the Lakers and try to maintain the slim chance that Lakers’ pick falls out of the top 5. Still, we’ll see if they can’t clean things up a bit Sunday night in Orlando.

Other Game Notes;

• The best story of the night was Jason Richardson’s return to the court, after injuries had derailed his career for 25 months. J-Rich received the start, but was limited to 4-minutes spurts and played just 18 minutes. Things started off poorly for him, as he airballed a shot on his very first touch of the game (certainly bound to be some rust after 2 years).

However, he seemed to find his legs as the game went on, hitting some jumpers in the second half and looking very active on both ends. Richardson finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds.

• With the Sixers hoping maybe JaVale McGee could be more than just a dead-weight contract, maybe even a reclamation project they could move for something in the offseason, things did not start off well. In his limited time on the court, McGee committed a walk, a charge, and attempted an awkward line-drive hook shot. He also had one play which showed why basketball people continue to be intrigued by him, despite a mountainous pile of evidence that he can’t play basketball.

If only he could make plays like that more than 5% of the time.

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