By Sean Kennedy
Sacramento 115, Philadelphia 98
It’s now been 42 days since the Sixers last won a basketball game. When the Sixers beat the Celtics on January 29th, there were still American sports fans who didn’t know who T.J. Oshie was, housewives that didn’t hate Juan Pablo, and TV viewers that were on the fence about True Detective. Continuing a recent trend, the Sixers started off well, jumping out to a 9-point lead midway through the first quarter. However, Sacramento answered with a 14-2 run, spurred by a 13-point explosion from Rudy Gay in under three minutes of game action. The Kings progressively built upon that advantage throughout the rest of the game, until it became another Sixers tanking special by the fourth quarter.
The Kings are the only team in the NBA with 3 players averaging 20 points per game, and they nearly all hit that mark against the Sixers. Gay led the way with a game-high 27 points, relentlessly attacking the rim as he attempted a whopping 19 free throw, making 16. Point guard Isaiah Thomas also burned a trail back and forth to the foul line, hitting 11-12 on his way to 20 points. Despite giving up close to 9 inches on Sixers point guard Michael-Carter Williams, Thomas bothered the rookie into 7 turnovers. It was an off-night for the likely ROY candidate, who had just 2 assists and couldn’t take advantage of the size mismatch against Thomas down on the blocks. Finally, the Sixers did a fairly good job against Sacramento big man DeMarcus Cousins, often sending 1 or two extra help defenders at him whenever he received the ball with his back to the basket. Still, even with 5 turnovers against some yeoman-like defense by Henry Sims, Cousins managed to put up 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Speaking of Sims, he was the brightest light in an otherwise eclipse-like performance by the Sixers. The recent acquisition went off for career-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds, showing off a dazzling array of post moves and mid-range jumpers, all while getting to the foul line and making 10 of his 11 freebies. Combined with his usual stiff interior defense, it was an eye-opening effort by the second-year player, as he was the only Sixer with a positive plus/minus on the game at +2. Aside from Sims, the main encouraging aspect of the game was the outside shooting of James Anderson, who hit 5 threes on his way to 17 points. Over his past 4 games, Anderson has averaged 4 made threes on 46% shooting behind the arc; if everyone was peaking like the Sixers swingman at the moment, the team wouldn’t be quite in this predicament. The Sixers welcome back Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen Friday night when the Pacers come to town; let’s just go ahead and pencil Philadelphia in for 19 straight.
Notable Observations:
- With the on-court product deteriorating, the in-booth announcing only got better. First, Malik Rose admitted that his friends refer to Toronto’s division as the Titanic division. That’s funny enough on the surface given that it’s the Atlantic division, but also, that’s the division your employers compete in Malik! Something tells me the Sixers brass might not have liked that comment. Also, Rose compared Byron Mullens to McLovin’ based on Mullens’ old haircut; I think Christopher Mintz-Plasse might have as much toughness on the interior as the new Sixers big man.
- Tony Wroten somehow didn’t snap every tendon in Ray McCallum’s ankles when he dropped the rookie to the floor with a filthy behind-the-back crossover move. Naturally, Wroten then missed the wide-open lay-up because…Sixers.
Tanking Implications:
The play from Henry Sims was especially encouraging and James Anderson remained hot from deep, which is how he would need to contribute as part of an actual NBA-quality rotation. I viewed the recent games against Utah and Sacramento as the team’s best chance of snapping its winning streak. With the losing skid now at 18 games, they will almost definitely sink below the franchise-worst mark of 20 straight losses. It’s looking increasingly less likely the Sixers will put up another win this season, with a pair of games each against Boston and Charlotte in April looking like their next best opportunities. The biggest question remains: can the Bucks win 2 of their final 18 games? 4/5 tanks
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