Wroten Sparks Sixers in 94-79 Win Over Cavaliers

By Sean Kennedy

It’s Tony Wroten’s world, we just live in it. I’m struggling to remember a bit player who everyone (hard-core fans, casual viewers, local media, national writers) all took such an immediate liking to. His hard-nosed tenacity and unceasing energy just strike the right cord with you at home. On this night, the on-court production matched the Tony Wroten aura, as he finished with a career-high 18 points and 4 assists. On one play, Wroten threw a no-look pass to Lavoy Allen for a lay-in that would have made Hot Sauce sit up and take notice. But my favorite Wroten moment of the game was when he threw down a thunder dunk on the fast break. Wroten corralled the pass and gathered the ball to throw down all in one motion with his left hand, ’cause Tony Wroten ain’t got time to use both hands.

Still, the bigger story of the game was the Sixers’ defensive effort, holding the Cavaliers to 33.3% shooting and 9-26 from behind the arc. Granted, Cleveland isn’t the best shooting team and they missed a few open looks, but the Sixers were closing out on shooters much better and even forced a 24 second violation in the fourth quarter. Whatever Brett Brown drilled into their heads after the Wizards game did the trick; we’ll see if it sticks when they face Cleveland again Saturday night.

The trio of ‘veterans’ for the Sixers all had solid outings. Evan Turner dropped a game-high 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists, working his bread-and-butter mid-range game for largely smart shots within the offense. Spencer Hawes hit a pair of threes and was a force on the backline defense, recording 6 blocks. Finally, Thad Young limited his offerings from long distance and stuck mainly to the in-tight hooks and post runs on which he thrives. He also had a ferocious block of Dion Waiters that threw the youngster to the ground.

As of the apple of everyone’s eye, Michael Carter-Williams, he struggled with his shot, finishing 4-13 on the night. However, his three-point stroke looked good and he contributed in other areas of the game. MCW worked a really nice pick-and-roll with Lavoy Allen, feeding the big man with a perfect pocket pass for a lay-in. He also fought persistently on the offensive lass after missing on a drive and got the putback on his third attempt. A fun moment of the game saw Carter-Williams stick his hand up to claim a basket from Tony Wroten when it wasn’t clear which of them tapped it in. Tony Wroten allowed the rookie to take the points, because he is a kind and merciful god.

Box Score

Notable Observations: 

• It bears mentioning that there’s enough evidence now to say Brett Brown is extremely skilled at drawing up good plays out of timeouts. He diagrammed one such play in the first quarter that got Evan Turner a wide-open 12-foot jumper in his sweet spot on the baseline.
• The boos started for Bynum as soon as he got up off the bench to report to the scorer’s table, and the fans relished every possible opportunity to let him have it. Grabbed a rebound (BOOOO), touched the ball on offense (BOOOO), on the kiss cam while seated on the bench with Alonzo Gee (BOOOOOOOO). As for on-court production, the first basket Bynum made wasn’t until the third quarter, and then Lavoy Allen beat him down the floor for a quick lay-up of his own. One thing he was able to do was force double teams from the Sixers and a team having a better shooting night might have been able to use that to their advantage.
• The Sixers rocked the red, white, and blue headbands and some star-spangled socks in honor of this country’s military veterans. All of the starters ditched of the headbands within the first few minutes other than Spencer Hawes (obviously, he’s a true American) and Evan Turner who wore it around the crown of his head (because Evan does some goofy things sometimes.
• Here’s your almost-nightly check-in with the Malik Rose color commentary experience (Note: I thoroughly enjoy listening to Marc and Malik, any poking fun is out of love). First, he made a fantasy basketball reference in the first quarter, referring to Anderson Varejao’s propensity for collecting rebounds. Little obscure, but ok, I’m with you Malik. Five minutes later, he brought it up again, and we found out he had Varejao and losing him to injury killed his team. Come on now, no one likes to hear people’s bad beats stories in poker or fantasy sports. He did have the line of the night that literally had me cracking up at home: ‘With that mustance and headband, Hawes looks like an extra in Semipro. I need a Will Ferrell-Spencer Hawes mash-up, stat.

Tanking Implications: 

First off, a win negatively impacts the tanking process but let’s focus on the good things from this game. Tony Wroten definitely looked more under control; if he harnesses his manic energy out on the court, Wroten will carve out a nice career for himself as a 6th-man type. Carter-Williams struggled again with his shot, but we pretty much knew that was an area where he needed improvement before the season and his floor game was on point tonight. With those two having solid outings and the entire team putting forth its best defensive effort of the season, the future looks bright in Philadelphia for one night. 3/5 tanks.