The Sixers scratched and returned to the 99-96 victory over the Knicks, driven by a maximum of 30 points from Tobias Harris.
This is what I saw.
The good
• One guy basically maintained Philadelphia’s offense for a first half that featured an ugly shot and a decent number of changes: Tobias Harris. Harris was his lone spacing choice basically throughout the first half and, along with some aggressive moves in the basket, provided enough to help the Sixers despite their terrible execution on the offensive end.
There seems to have been some personal juice in this game for Harris, who was competing with Julius Randle for the All-Star Game and who seemed to have that fact in mind when the two equalized. Defensively, Harris stayed short in his stance and forced Randle to work hard in the post office where he has earned his money historically, and hurried back to the other side, beating his counterpart with a little good game. -Dribble moves to the top of the outside shot.
After scoring a clutch bucket on the pole by the time he finished in the fourth, Harris let go as the Sixers headed for the bench for a timeout, apparently declaring that he he was the guy who deserved that offer for the mid-season game. Hard to say he was wrong at the time, he got to make at least some monster defensive plays, in addition to dominating in offensive time on offense. And the strategy wasn’t exactly disguised, as the Sixers let Harris settle late with the smaller / weaker defense, reminiscent of his recent overtime performance against the Jazz.
Harris is a scoring chameleon, a guy who somehow constantly adapts to the current situation, never out of place if he has to lead the team or Joel Embiid is the center of the universe. That’s a merit not only for his skills, but for his mental focus, and it’s hard to do the job he does overnight this season.
On Tuesday night, he was Philly’s man and they needed him to use all the tools in the kit to get her to cross the line. Now he has to do it against the Bucks tomorrow night.
• The rebirth of Dwight Howard continues. Tuesday was miles better than starter Tony Bradley (not that he’s saying much), and if he had better preparation play by his second-unit teammates, he looked like he’d spend a much bigger night against New York. As it was, he offered more than enough for a boy in his role.
Howard’s rise in play recently only makes me wonder what it would be like to play with a guard who has real juice as a pick-and-roll player. Even a fully made version of Tyrese Maxey would be something: Maxey loved throwing wolves during his days in Kentucky, and those two showed a first chemistry at the start of the year. Shake Milton has been pretty handled as the main driver off the bench, and Howard feels like a guy who needs some ball handling dynamism on his side.
• Ben Simmons has been there real failed problems several times this season, but this game felt like one of the toughest whistles it has received all year, though it was never in jeopardy. The Knicks won a couple of cheap ones in really tough calls against Simmons, and got a fair amount of tough stuff at the other end.
Anyway, I thought I was navigating the game with experience, taking on different responsibilities, as the situation of the game justified it. The Sixers needed him to be a ballplayer, an offside man, the creator of the hands-free space and the guy who directed the break in the transition, and he saved for some initial changes, he managed to make it. all this at a reasonably high level.
(Philly probably won’t have a better year-round opportunity than the next two weeks to try a variety of different aspects with Simmons as a screen. It’s already a pretty important part of the playbook, but with something small that maybe they need the way to the playoffs, they should try anything that Rivers is sitting on until Embiid returns).
There were more defensive possessions in which he toasted than the average of the night (he had most of his problems near the basket / on the spot, with guys burning him for counterfeits on his shoulder), but he did a job pretty good slowing down RJ Barrett.
• Credit to Furkan Korkmaz and Seth Curry for fighting again in this game after some absolutely rotten first halves, with Curry making a display of shots after the half after an anonymous first half that we’ll get down to.
The aforementioned variety of Simmons game was to Curry’s benefit more than anyone else. Philadelphia brought him out with a few dribble plays early in the third quarter, and a guy who spent most of the first 24 minutes scared to shoot suddenly took three heat checks from the coach’s box, helping to throw Philadelphia back into the game.
Korkmaz had the quieter half, but it was most of the bench’s offense during an early fourth-quarter rebound that allowed the Sixers to pass the time and bought the starters the chance to close out the deal. in the last minutes.
The bad
• Doc Rivers ’decision to give Philadelphia a small ball formation a chance in the first half was healthy enough on the surface. Tony Bradley basically didn’t give them anything, and the Knicks don’t have big ones that will really punish you for downsizing.
For the rest of my life, I can’t understand why the Sixers play this lineup with Simmons as a nominal center and never try to activate the defense. Simmons has shown you time and time again (this year and in years past) that the rim protector is not a suitable role for him. In short course with this lineup on Tuesday, you saw it again: the Knicks had a very easy time getting to the edge with Simmons not playing the kind of defense we’re used to being used to by Joel Embiid.
If the Sixers want to prove it and the coaching staff has indicated that is the case, they could also change the defensive style to suit him. Focus on what Simmons does well on defense and see if that does the trick.
• You should have known it would arrive sooner or later, but the Philadelphia bank that fell back to Earth basically at the same time proved quite uncomfortable with its plans on Tuesday.
I think Shake Milton had a case like the worst in the group, accumulating poor defensive play (one of the worst of the season) in addition to a lifeless effort on offense. When presented in such forms, I do not know how you can ask the group of all banks to hold on. With due respect to Randle, who deserves credit for the progress he has made as a global player, his main guard should lick his ribs if they see him in front of him in a situation of isolation. Milton stared at him more than once and barely tried to let him go. Tough looks.
(Inexplicably, they played good minutes again to open the quarter, just as they did against Utah in the big win before the team. I’m on the side of the valuation anyway!)
• Defending the transition has been a point of emphasis on the practice track and pre-Philadelphia messaging, and while there were some good individual effort plays against the Knicks, the Sixers remain work in progress in this department. New York may have been the team in the second half of a game against each other, but they routinely defeated the Sixers on the ground on Tuesday night, which I’m sure the staff will take into account in the next film session.
• Danny Green and Curry were bad for their unique way during the first half of Tuesday’s game, but I think one is a worse version of the impact than the other. Any guesses about the style of offensive ineptitude that I don’t like (d) anymore?
If you guess Curry (and you probably don’t), you’d be right. I will always, always, always live with one of the guys you pay for and trust in taking pictures, simply losing a decent look from the bottom. When Green misses a lot of open or undisputed jumpers, it’s aggravating to see him and it must be a little annoying for teammates who create an open look, but you know he won’t blink when the ball spins if he has 9 years / 10 or 1/10.
Curry just can’t be as tempting to throw as he has been for long stretches this season and as he was against the Knicks during the first half of Tuesday’s game. The teams that load the paint and challenge the Sixers shooters to win them has been the game plan of the big games basically for the whole Embiid / Simmons era, and he’s one of the guys who has to let go of the pressure in the playoffs and capitalize on the care given to their peers.
Once Curry started to let them fly in the second half, the Sixers ’offense was suddenly quite better. Shots cannot be fired if they cannot be fired. Crazy concept, I know.
• This previous section is how I really feel, but there’s still no way to dress up Danny Green’s offensive performance. That was a shame.
The ugly
• Can I designate most of the first quarter for this section? Heck, I write articles, I can propose anything I want if I feel like it.
Both defenses deserve their share of credit for the rough start, with individual players making good changes on both teams. But Knicks ’defensive style (packing the paint, giving up nothing easy) combined with a bad green game resulted in an absolutely brutal game and unattainable limit. The Sixers had to recycle possessions constantly, and their only really willing shooter was cold as a deep ice of shot after shot as the possessions spun. When that happens, it will be a long night.
It was no better with the bench group. His best nights lacked a regatta penetration, and he was even uglier against the Knicks, with many possessions forcing Howard to isolate himself and create for himself. Yes, this Dwight Howard, the 35-year-old backup center he should never have created for himself.
I thought this basketball brand died a long time ago. Please no more.
• As most of you know, I enjoy the musical element of today’s basketball. There’s still absolutely no reason to play two different songs back to back when Dwight Howard scores. If Howard wants to hear Trinidad James’ “All Gold Everything” when he scores, that’s fine. Trying to combine this with the Superman theme is just ridiculous.
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