Sixers Head to Beantown

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

With just 3 games left before the All-Star break, this middle portion of the season has a much different vibe for the Sixers community than a season ago. Back then, fans were wondering where and when many of the veterans on the roster would be shipped out. Is Thad going to go before the trade deadline (No)? Will the team get anything for Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes (eh, not really, although Henry Sims has certainly exceeded expectations). Sure, the Sixers might still take on an unwanted contract or two for some more juicy 2nd-round picks, but the cupboard of superfluous veteran assets is basically bare.

Instead, it’s basically all systems go now for the future with the Sixers. Michael Carter-Williams will be participating in the Skills Challenge over All-Star weekend (where he’ll be matched up against Jeff Teague in the first round). He and Nerlens Noel will both be playing the Rising Stars game. More importantly, the team is beginning to put things together on the court. The Sixers are looking to build off their strong recent stretch of games, which included wins in 3 of their past 5, with the losses close defeats to Eastern powerhouses Atlanta and Cleveland. They’ll look to continue that trend facing a Boston team in a similar situation.

The Celtics are obviously in a full-on rebuild as well, finding themselves in much the same position as the Sixers last season after trading away their ‘name’ veterans in Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green. They’re now fully committed to giving minutes to the young guys, with rookies Marcus Smart and James Young seeing much more action of late to join their young frontcourt players like Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk. Sullinger and Olynyk have both given the Sixers trouble in the teams’ two prior meetings this season (both Boston wins). My main hope for tonight is the see Noel step up and a) prevent Sullinger from swallowing all those offensive rebounds, and b) stop Olynyk from putting up any sort of crazy 30-point game as he did in the last meeting.

Still, Brad Stevens looks to be a great find at head coach for the Celtics and has the team playing extremely hard. Despite the pared-down roster, Boston has won 5 of its past 9 games (although 2 wins came against Denver so they may not actually count) and hardly ever experience any of the blowout losses you might experience from a ‘tanking’ team. Their organization is certainly heading in the right direction, even before all those tantalizing Brooklyn first-round picks start rolling around. Good for Boston, that sports area really needs to catch some breaks (give it to Marshawn, Coach Carroll!).

Other Preview Notes:

The Sixers made one roster adjustment this week, not signing Larry Drew II to a guaranteed contract through the rest of the season after his 2nd 10-day deal expired. The team stated it was happy with everything he did with the club, but roster flexibility ahead of the trade deadline played a role in not bringing him back. In his stead, the Sixers have brought in former Penn State guard Tim Frazier to man the back-up point guard position. Frazier played 5 games for the Sixers in Vegas Summer League, in addition to 4 preseason games actually with these Celtics. He’s a very good scorer, especially in the mid-range working off the pick-and-roll, although he’s never been an exceptional outside shooter (just 29% from three his senior year at Penn State). Still, Frazier was averaging 15.9 points, 8.9 assists, and 6.8 rebounds in the D-league this season, and the Sixers’ last big D-league signing hasn’t worked out too badly (Big Shot Bob!). We’ll see what Frazier can do on the big stage.