By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Sacramento 107, Philadelphia 106 – Box Score
For a while Tuesday night, it looked like we would be looking at another Philadelphia win, telling ourselves that the lottery implications didn’t matter because we were seeing significant growth from the young guys. The Sixers came out on fire offensively, scoring 70 first half points and leading by double digits early in the third quarter. While they couldn’t do much of anything to stop the grizzly bear in a man’s body that is DeMarcus Cousins, it still looked like the Sixers were bound for victory.
However, Sam Hinkie assembled this island of misfit toys with a goal in mind, and his tanking seeds bore fruit with a couple painful second-half droughts. First, the Kings went on a 14-0 run midway through the third period, as the Sixers went over 5 minutes without scoring. Then, after Robert Covington decided to go Super Saiyan and score 12 points in a 90-second span to pull the Sixers back in front, the team went the final 6 minutes of the game without making a field goal.
They also decided to play one of their greatest tanking hits, Bushel of Turnovers (it sounds a little like Rains of Castamere), giving the ball away 10 times in the fourth quarter alone. That was mostly due to the stylings of Ish Smith, who put up a positively MCW-ian line of 13 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 turnovers on the game.
Even still, the Sixers found themselves down just 2 in the final minute. Ironically, Robert Covington finally missed something, going just 1-2 at the foul line to leave the team down a point. The Sixers got a defensive stop thanks to who else, Nerlens Noel, and had a chance to win the game on the final possession. But, in a sequence that sucked in moment but we will be thankful for in May, Hollis Thompson had the ball taken away on a drive and kick attempt, and the Kings escaped with the win.
Heroes:
– Robert Covington: team-best 21 points on 5-6 shooting from three, one incredible Reggie Miller-esque stretch of play.
– Thomas Robinson: Maybe it was because he was facing the team that drafted him, but T-Rob was finally given a bit more floor time by Coach Brown, responding with a career-high 16 points and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes. His per-36 numbers are off the chart since joining the Sixers (19.3 points and 17.3 rebounds). Whether that translates to more minutes in the season’s final weeks remains to be seen.
– Nerlens Noel: The rookie recorded another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, also adding 6 blocks, 5 of which came against DeMarcus Cousins. It wasn’t all good from Noel, as not only did he struggle against Cousins on the defensive glass, but he also went down like a baby giraffe getting crossed over by the 82-year-old Professor Andre Miller.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsI don’t think anyone will use that play when pitching his ROY candidacy. More likely, they’ll show him trying to bring back the dream shake with this little amazing number.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsVillains:
– DeMarcus Cousins: For the second time this season against the Sixers, Cousins was a Category 5 hurricane on the glass; he grabbed 17 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards which helped him get to the foul line 19 times, making 17. Cousins finished with 33 points, which could have been more if not for Noel’s initial effort defending him (he shot just 8-27 from the field), and also had 4 steals (including the one on the game’s final play) and 4 blocks.
– Rudy Gay: The former Grizzly and Raptor was similarly inefficient from the floor, making 6-19 shots, but also made his living at the charity stripe. Gay sunk 8-9 free throws to drop 21 points on the game. Jerami Grant struggled against the veteran, getting whistled for 5 fouls in just 22 minutes of action.
The Sixers are now just a half game ahead of Minnesota in the standings, and remain 2 games back of the Lakers with LA also losing last night in OKC. Philly is back in action tonight against the Nuggets.
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