Sixers Start Well, Stall Out Against Pistons

By Sean Kennedy

Things started off great for the Sixers Friday night; their legs finally looked rested after their long road trip and they were hitting every shot in sight as they jumped out to a 14-2 lead. Young, Hawes, and Turner were all draining threes and Philadelphia finished the first quarter with a phenomenal 36 points. Unfortunately, the best offensive rebounding team in the league had their way against the Sixers, corralling 16 O-boards in the first half and 25 on the game. All of those second chance opportunities kept the Pistons within striking distance at a time the Sixers should have been building an insurmountable lead the way they were shooting the ball. But with Daniel Orton released and Lavoy Allen out, the Sixers were forced to play some lineups with Thad Young at center, not exactly the best way to go about fixing a rebounding problem.

Philadelphia predictably cooled off in the second half but their defensive woes stayed the same. In addition to the domination on the glass, the Pistons even started hitting from the perimeter, with Brandon Jennings, Caldwell-Pope, and Will Bynum combining to make Detroit’s first 5 of 7 threes in the third quarter. A 10-point Sixers lead vanished in the blink of an eye (also known as the length of time in takes for Molly Sullivan to interview Marion Bartoli about shoes).

With the Sixers cold from the perimeter, they tried to attack the basket but had minimal luck against the trees of the Pistons. Josh Smith recorded 5 blocks and Andre Drummon had six of his own, including one remarkable sequence in transition. Drummond challenged a James Anderson lay-up who made a very nice shovel pass to Evan Turner; Turner went up and Drummond was off his feet again in a instance to deny Turner at the rim. It was a fantastic display of athleticism for the young Pistons big man.

The Sixers kept fighting even as Detroit began to pull away late but a Pistons team that can out-rebound you by 20 and hit league-average from three is a formidable opponent. Philadelphia will look to play a full 48 minutes tonight against the Knicks, and they’ll keep their shoelaces tied tight. 

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• Hollis Thompson was demoted from the starting lineup in favor of James Anderson, who responded with a solid if nondescript effort, basically what we’re come to expect from Anderson this season. More notably, Thompson lost some additional minutes at the expense of Elliot Williams, who seized the opportunity with his best performance of the season. Williams made a couple highlight-worthy plays: picking Will Bynum’s pocket and rising up for a powerful breakaway dunk with Josh Smith lurking behind like a T-Rex chasing a jeep. He later collected a loose ball and threw down in the lane over Kyle Singler. A promising effort from the rookie; we’ll see if he can bring more consistency going forward.
• During the second half, Brandon Davies was wide open for a 5-footer but looked scared to put the ball up. The mics under the basket picked up all his Sixers teammates yelling at him to shoot it. Under the peer pressure, he finally put up the shot and bricked it off the back iron. Davies is the trump card in Sam Hinkie’s tanking arsenal.
• Spencer Hawes was subbing in offense/defense in the closing minutes and took a courtside seat rather than going all the way to the bench. I’m not sure there are many arenas where you can just find enough open courtside seats to plop down a 7-footer, but the Sixers have that prestigious honor.

Tanking Implications:

Largely a good effort from MCW who finished with 21 points and 4 steals. The 4 turnovers continue to be a concern as he made some ill-advised passes in transition and his pick-and-roll defense left something to be desired as well. Still, he was doing a great job probing the Pistons defense during the Sixers early run, finishing with a pretty floater in the lane or finding open teammates on the perimeter. Sequences like those are what gives the team hope for the future. After their anomalous 4-game winning streak, the Sixers have lost 3 straight and now have the 4th-worst record in the league. Draft improvement! 4/5 tanks