Turner and Young Propel Sixers to 121-120 OT Victory

By Sean Kennedy

Much like the lottery balls will be bouncing around come May, with the Sixers down one, Evan Turner’s final shot banged around on the rim three times before dropping in to end their 7-game losing streak and send the Wells Fargo Center home happy. With Philadelphia still without a win in regulation since November 8, a span of 21 games, the Sixers faithful hope the bouncing balls of fate will be just as kind come spring.

Turner kept the Sixers in the game early on, shooting 7-7 in the first quarter, finishing with a game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds. Turner was asked in the post-game interview how it felt to be the first Sixer to go 7-7 in a quarter since Willie Green. Turner didn’t seem as thrilled to be part of such illustrious company as you might have imagined.

The other big star of the game was another member of the old guard, as Thad Young went off for 25 points, including a perfect a 3-3 from behind the arc. Leading up to the game, Young downplayed everything about the report of his asking to be traded, saying he laughed when that report first came out and went back to playing with his kids.  He answered any question about his focus immediately, sinking a three within the first minute of the game and stepping up in the final minutes of overtime. On one play during free basketball, Thad caught a pass in the corner, and immediately rose up to drain the three; it was the most confident I’ve ever seen him from the perimeter. Also in the final minute, he sprinted across the floor to grab a key offensive rebound to maintain possession with the Sixers up two. It was a vintage Thad Young performance all the way around.

On the negative side of the ledger, the Sixers were up to their old tricks defensively. Even with Joe Johnson out, the Nets found a couple guys to flirt with the type of performance he put up on Monday. In the first half, Mirza Teletovic was 5-8 on threes, finishing with a career-high 18 points. Brett Brown face went 20 shades of purples as he struggled to maintain his composure following one defense lapse that led to a Teletovic long ball. Then, in the third quarter, Alan Anderson nearly replicated Johnson’s third quarter from the previous game, going 4-5 on threes for 16 points in the frame; he finished with 26 points on the night. The Sixers are going to have to clean things up going forward to secure that long-awaited win in regulation, starting tonight in Milwaukee.

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• In Michael Carter-Williams’s return to action, the rookie struggled with his shot but still added a dynamic aspect to the Sixers offense that was missing in his absence. He did announce his presence two minutes into the second quarter, getting a steal off the weak side and going down the other end for an uncontested flush. However, the team did put the ball in MCW’s hands on the team’s final possession, but couldn’t get a great shot off driving to his left.
• Spencer Hawes twice had shots in the paint where he was definitely fouled by the defender grabbing his arm but just flipped up a casual shot expecting the foul call. The whistles were silent and Hawes complained to the refs but you have to go up strong in those situations and expose the contact, forcing the ref to blow the whistle.
• Malik Rose is firmly in the corner of fouling teams when they try to throw alley-oops on you. He mentioned it so many times that I was beginning to think he thought that’s how the winner of the game was determined. But he also did a pretty good impression of Dave Chappelle’s “It’s a celebration”, that got slipped in without Zumoff so much as acknowledging it. True missed opportunity to learn the depth of Zumoff’s Chappelle Show knowledge.

Tanking Implications: 

This game was the most compelling game the Sixers have played in weeks but the tank scale doesn’t measure the level of excitement. Ironically, if Turner’s shot had bounced outside the cylinder, it would have been better for the long-term prospects of the team, and the win was led by a guy expected to be traded at the deadline and another that may or may not have already been asked to be traded. Carter-Williams did show off his playmaking skills with 10 assists and Wroten was a fiend attacking the rim, going 6-9 on two-point field goals. There were certainly a few reasons to be optimistic about the future. 2/5 tanks