Sixers Fear The Deer, Fail to Win Second Straight Game

By Sean Kennedy

Well, at least it wasn’t the three-point defense that did the Sixers in for a change. Despite the Bucks hitting just 7 of 25 shots from the perimeter zone Philadelphia usually designates as free points for their opponents, Milwaukee still shot over 50% in the game, taking advantage of poor Sixers rotations to cruise to a 116-106 victory. The boys of Broad Street showed incredibly inattentive lapses on the defensive side, including one sequence in the closing seconds of the first quarter where Luke Ridnour was left completely alone to catch a full-court pass off an in-bounds. A help defender had to come over and Ridnour dished to a wide-open teammate for a dunk before the buzzer. Plays like that were all too common for a Sixers club that aside from an 8-0 run to start the third quarter, looked to be sleep-walking through much of the game. Normally, I’d say that’s attributable to the second night of a back-to-back after an overtime battle the night before, but Milwaukee also played an overtime contest on Friday night so there was really no excuse.

There were some bright spots for the Sixers, the biggest of which continues to be the rejuvenated play of Thad Young. Maybe the blog community should release reports of other players seeking trades because Thad has played his most inspired ball of the season in the two games since that report came to light. Young dropped 30 points and collected 10 rebounds, shooting a perfect 4-4 from behind the arc in the process (although one was a bank from the top of the key that he definitely didn’t call). It was just the third career 30-point game for the former Yellow Jacket, and first since March of 2010. Now 7-7 from the perimeter in his last two games, Young sits at 44% from downtown on the season as that experiment continues to pay dividends.

Two other Sixers had double-doubles with Spencer Hawes breaking out of his recent scoring funk with 25 points and 11 rebounds. After his late-game heroics in the teams’ first meeting, Hawes has scored 25 in each of the two games against Milwaukee this season; the people of Wisconsin speak of his hall-of-fame potential in hushed whispers.

Michael Carter-Williams also had a great night offensively with 19 points and 12 assists. He also through down a huge dunk in the final minute of the first half, somewhat posterizing fellow rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo (props to Zumoff for pronouncing that name correctly throughout the game). The 5 turnovers and poor defense on Brandon Knight were concerning, but MCW once again showed enough to keep fans excited about his potential.

Speaking of Brandon Knight, the third-year guard continued a recent torrid stretch of play to finish with 21 points and 6 assists. He had 17 points at the half, before ceding the scoring responsibilities to a hot-shooting Khris Middleton (27 points) following the break. The Sixers were also victimized by the long jumper game of Caron Butler. After dropping a season-high 38 against the Sixers a few weeks ago, Butler returned from a knee injury to post 13 points and 7 rebounds in the first half. He went cold in the final 24 minutes, shooting only 8-21 on the game, but sure looked happy to be out there against the ‘defense’ of Philadelphia once again.

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• Why does Jim Lynam always look so pained to be on camera? Whenever they cut back to the studio, he gives this grimacing nod to the lens, as if to do as little as possible to acknowledge that he’s on television. Hey coach, you’re getting paid to talk about basketball, maybe look like it’s enjoyable for you.
• Malik Rose compared Nate Wolters to Kobe Bryant when he didn’t pass the ball ahead to OJ Mayo on a two-on-none fast break. As much fun as Wolters was at South Dakota State University, I feel confident that’s the last time he will ever be compared to the Black Mamba.

Tanking Implications: 

This game had huge lottery implications down the road and the Sixers did not disappoint fans of tanking across the country. Although Young and Hawes carried the bulk of the scoring lead, Carter-Williams looked even better in his second game back and the team’s watchability jumps astronomically when he’s out on the floor. However, none of the other young guys did anything much of note, with Hollis Thompson going invisible, Tony Wroten having a few ugly turnovers in the lane, and James Anderson going a putrid 0-7 from the floor. 4/5 tanks