By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Chicago 111, Philadelphia 98 – Box Score
Looking for their first win of the 2015-16 season, the 76ers received some news extremely detrimental to that cause just before gametime Monday. Unfortunately, Nerlens Noel was a late scratch with sore wrists suffered from a fall against Cleveland Friday. With Nerlens out, it was up to Jahlil Okafor to carry the full burden for the Sixers on the interior, with fellow rookies Richaun Holmes and Christian Wood the only other active big men on the roster,
Big Jah put up some big numbers, recording 21 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his first-ever double-double. In particular, Okafor lit it up in the third quarter, scoring 14 points in that period alone, allowing the Sixers to keep things reasonably close before the game completely got away from the club in the fourth. However, it wasn’t an efficient night for Okafor, as he shot just 9-25 from the field and 3-8 from the foul line. Also, as expected, the interior defense fell apart with Noel in a suit; Chicago starting forwards Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic combined for 36 points and 19 rebounds on the evening.
Still, I’m not suggesting it was by any means Okafor’s fault that the Sixers lost this contest, as he received very little help from his teammates. The struggles with Nik Stauskas’ shot continued against the Bulls, with Sauce Castillo connecting on just 2 of his 13 shot attempts and only 1 of his 7 three-pointers. The ‘let Jerami Grant try to shoot’ experiment also remains off track; while Grant had some nice plays defensively (recording 3 blocks), he shot just 4-12 and is now 2-13 from behind the arc on the season.
One bright spot was the energy brought to the table by Holmes and Wood, in what were career-high minutes played for each. Holmes drew the start and played reasonably well, recording 11 points, 2 blocks, and a team-best +5 on the evening. Meanwhile, Wood was a bit spastic at time, particularly on one charge call he got nailed on when he was completely out of control. But he did grab 8 rebounds in just 21 minutes, and he and Holmes both were pivotal parts of the Sixers grabbing a three-point lead midway through the second quarter after trailing by as many as 15 in the first. The Sixers not giving up was another good sign for the club, before their lack of depth really proved to be too much as the second half wore on.
The good news for the Sixers is Noel is expected back on Wednesday, while Robert Covington may make his return to the lineup on Saturday. However, as many people have mentioned, this is an extremely tough stretch for the team with the next three against Toronto, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio. Philadelphia is going to need everyone back and shaking the rust off in a hurry to stay competitive, let alone pull off an upset victory.
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