Some Late Harris Magic Stuns Sixers

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Two rebuilding teams entered the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday night under a similar set of circumstances. Both the Sixers and the Magic entered play 0-4 with their star 2nd-year guards (Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo) sidelined due to injury. What transpired over the next 48 minutes won’t be shown at basketball clinics, as the teams combined to shoot 11-45 from three and each commit 20+ turnovers. Still, it was a tightly contested battle throughout the evening where clearly, both teams were desperately fighting to depart the ranks of the winless. When Henry Sims hit his only field goal of the night from 18-feet out with 6 seconds left, it looked like it just might be the Sixers’ night. Instead, we were treated to this:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZSbek00LuU]

That’s Tobias Harris fading away to hit a 21-footer (a.k.a. the worst shot in basketball) at the buzzer with Brandon Davies properly hedging and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute draped all over him. You couldn’t ask for better defense on the play from the Sixers; sometimes luck simply isn’t on your side. Still, with their next 5 games coming against teams who made the playoffs last season, tonight was easily the best chance for a while for the Sixers to earn their first victory of the season, and it feels like this one got away.

Nevertheless, fans shouldn’t dwell on the loss too much as every defeat ultimately helps the franchise in its quest for the most lottery balls, which hilariously looks like it will be decided between the Sixers and the secretly tanking Lakers. More concerning might be the ankle injury suffered by Nerlens Noel in the third quarter. He said after the game he could walk on his own power and the injury wasn’t too bad, but for a guy who hasn’t exactly built a reputation as being injury-prone, it’s worrying that just 5 games in he’s already missing action. Noel also struggled to defend that much larger Nik Vucevic down low; Brett Brown even yanked the Sixers rookie very early in the game for one of his teaching moments. Just a reminder after the Rockets game that Noel has a long way to go in terms of size and strength before he can bang on the interior with true centers.

The fact that I went this long without mentioning Tony Wroten shows how commonplace his performances like Wednesday night’s have become, as he was the heart and soul of the Sixers against the Magic, for better and worse. Wreckin’ Ball dropped a game-high 27 points, sinking 4 threes, recording 8 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, but also 9 turnovers. Wroten might be the closest thing we ever get to seeing Air Bud actually take the court, doing some amazing things that defy logic, but also taking care of the basketball like a player without opposable thumbs. Regardless, the Tony Wroten experience is a ride I’ll happily wait in line for each and every night.

The other Sixer worth mentioning from last night’s action is the guy who’s already set himself apart from the rest of the team’s new faces, K.J. McDaniels. The former Clemson Tiger was his usual dominant defensive self, playing swarming defense and recording 3 blocks. He also had probably his best offensive game, hitting one of his two three-point attempts, converting a few drives, and doing this:

Make sure to match those contract offers in the offseason, Sam Hinkie,

Finally, I want to mention how impressed I was with former Sixer (for about 10 minutes on draft night) Elfrid Payton. Despite scoring just 8 points, the rookie point guard had a huge impact on this game. With the game tied and the Sixers possessing the ball, Payton’s defensive pressure caused a backcourt violation on Tony Wroten with a minute left. Then, on the ensuing Magic possession, he drove the lane and found Harris for a wide-open dunk to put Orlando ahead. Finally, after Henry Sims got an offensive rebound on the other end, Payton stripped him of the ball to help momentarily retain the lead. Payton also had sequence early in the game where he stole the ball from Wroten bringing it up (who for all his turnover warts, is a great one-on-one ballhandler), and flushed it on the fast break. At the very least, Payton will be a top-notch defender who carves out a long career for himself that way; if he ever develops a shot, watch out.

As I mentioned, the Sixers’ upcoming slate of games is tough, with Chicago, Toronto, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio next up, the last four on the road. You could see the guys like Wroten and Davies, who have really been playing good ball for the first two weeks, having their hearts sink when that Harris shot went down. Hopefully, the guys keep fighting hard despite the setbacks, because despite the winless record, they’ve been a fun and exciting team to watch thus far.