Sixers Backcourt Overcomes Linsanity in 123-117 OT Win

By Sean Kennedy

After seeing college studs Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Julius Randle in all their glory Tuesday night, one would suspect the Sixers to double down on their tanking efforts. The very next day, Michael Carter-Williams sat out with a bruised heel (*cough*, too good at basketball, *cough*), and coming off a terrible performance against the Spurs, it seemed like all systems were go for another Sixers loss. However, we’ve come to expect the unexpected this season and Wednesday night against the Rockets was no different. 

In Carter-Williams’ absence, each member of the Sixers starting backcourt stepped up with the game of their lives. James Anderson dropped a career-high 36 points (shattering his previous-high of 19 points), hitting 6-8 threes including a heavily challenged shot with six seconds left to tie the game and force overtime. Anderson was a perfect 6-6 from the field in the first half, and was not only on fire from behind the arc, but did a great job of driving to the basket when the defense rushed out to challenge his outside shot.

Starting for the first time in place of MCW, Tony Wroten only went ahead and became the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his first career start. Because it’s the Sixers and these things happen. 41 minutes of Tony Wroten played out exactly as you’d expect, with plenty of counting stats, recklessly aggressive drives to the basket and turnovers mixed in. I’ll detail the first four possessions of the game below, which were all Tony Wroten and all delightful.

After Anderson’s shot sent the game to overtime, a Spencer Hawes putback dunk with 30 seconds left in overtime ignited the crowd and gave Philadelphia back a lead they would not relinquish. They may have been without James Harden, but with Dwight Howard, Jeremy Lin playing out of his mind, and Chandler Parsons flashing his complete offensive repertoire, a win over the Rockets is still awfully impressive. Just another chapter in the most bizarre story ever told: the 2013-14 Sixers season.

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• If the Sixers hadn’t pulled out this contest, the lede would have been all about Jeremy Lin’s record-setting shooting performance. Given the full reins of the offense with Harden sidelined, Lin scored 34 points by making a Wells Fargo-record 9 three-pointers on 15 attempts, to go along with 12 assists. For one night, Linsanity was back in full force.
• Brett Brown opted to intentionally foul Dwight Howard each possession once the Rockets were in the bonus at the end of the second quarter. Howard didn’t have his worst performance from the line, going 5-9 on the game, and had a solid overall game with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 blocks (although one of those blocks was the most egregious non-goaltending call I’ve ever seen).
• So getting back to Tony Wroten, on the very first play of the game, #8 just flat out threw the ball out of bounds on a pass attempt. On the Sixers’ next possession, Wroten pushed off trying to get open for an in-bounds pass and was whistled for an offensive foul. The next time the Sixers touched the ball, Wroten did his patented bull in the china shop drive to his left, missing the lay-up but grabbing his own rebound and following up for the first Philadelphia points of the game. Finally, on the fourth possession for the Sixers, Wroten streaked down court on the fast break and received a pass from Evan Turner, getting fouled and making one of two free throws. All of that encapsulated the Tony Wroten experience to a tee. This season wouldn’t be the same without him.

Tanking Implications:

Believe it or not, James Anderson is just 24 years old, and not the 32-year old vet he might appear to be. I’ve always seen him as a solid rotational guy down the road, maybe a little stretched out in his current role as a starter. Wroten also went ahead and dropped a triple-double, showing he could actually run an offense for stretches and be more than an energy guy off the bench. It would have been nice to have MCW involved in such a team-building win, but still an encouraging outing for the young group. 3/5 tanks.