Although Wednesday night’s game was never going to give him a definite answer as to whether the Sixers are an ardent NBA title contender, it was still the team’s most early season Test.
The Sixers almost passed it, improving to 13-6 with a 107-106 win over defending champions Lakers.
The pull-up jumper on the last possession of the Tobias Harris Sixers won the game for the team and saved it from a very disappointing loss.
At 14 points, a little over five minutes, the Sixers late-game execution just wasn’t as good as they seem more eager to see the wind of the clock than they score.
“It shouldn’t go so close,” Danny Lee said. “We had double digits in most of the game and we grew and showed some maturity. Hopefully, throughout the season we’ll keep that lead and put our foot on the gas. But we had a lot of losses, not a lot of weaknesses. And moving the ball, a lot of turnover and a bad shot on goal. And then defensively, just a couple of losses. “
Harris finally saved the day, and Anthony Davis on the buzzer soon arrived.
“I’m the kind of person who gives myself a scene in those places,” Harris said. “When the opportunity arose, we came out of the deadline and Seth (Kari) and I were talking and if Joel (Embed) was not open, they were more likely to pick-and-roll. And just let me come to the top and go to my place.
“It’s a shot that I’ve been working on over and over again. In those moments, it’s okay with enough confidence to let go and with the result. Tonight, it performed well.”
LeBron James posted 34 points, six rebounds and six assists in a losing effort that would make Los Angeles competitive during the game.
The win is the best of the 2020-21 Sixers, an impressive response to the notion that their place at the top of the Eastern Conference is due to a simple schedule.
Daryl Moore, president of the Sixers of Basketball Operations Operations, was not in the game because he was working remotely as he had no connection to the Sixers due to Covid-19 contact, according to Inquirer’s Keith Pompey’s report.
The Sixers ’next play on Friday night, a one-way matchup against the Timberwolves. Here are his observations on the Lakers’ victory:
Simmons v. James
Ben Simmons was in a jumping attacking position, scoring six of the first nine points of the Sixers, James giving him enough space to run fast and adjust the tone well.
James was probably the focus of the Ably Lakers ‘offense, and he burned multiple cuts of the buttons as soon as the Simpsons and the Sixers’ enthusiastic defense. The meaning for when and how to use his vast array of James skills remains special; He is a basketball genius who receives extraordinary physical gifts. His aggression was needed in the first half as Los Angeles scored 1 of 11 runs from a three-point range and no one except James and Davis got meaningful scoring.
Despite James scoring far more than his Menti, Simmons left his mark on the game in many ways, including a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
“It was huge,” said head coach Doc Rivers. The statistics would say offense, but the defense and all these little things he did, it was unbelievable. He is playing great. It’s funny, on its low-scoring night, you watch a movie of the game and it’s flying all over the place.
“The stuff he does for us, the winning things he does, it’s hard to put in numbers, and unfortunately we’re in this pay generation where everyone has a number. Its brilliance is often missed by a lot of people.”
Green told the Sixers on Wednesday that he sees whether James and Simmons are connected, but he thinks it’s “inappropriate” to compare anyone with James. We think that is a reasonable assessment.
An eventful evening of embedding
It didn’t take long for Embaid to disappoint Mark Gasol, who defended him during a 0-for-11 performance last season during a bad career spell, as the 35-year-old picked up offensive technique in the first quarter. One embedded and one. After this the Sixers began to roll the all-star center, making their move to the square up and post before the double teams arrived.
Rivers left Embid for more than 10 minutes and played in a lineup without any real power ahead of him. That unit was excellent as the Sixers shed help towards which any man was facing a size disadvantage in a certain defensive possession and continued to cook offensively with a 34-18 lead.
Subsequent non-embedded minutes were much less fruitful for the Sixers as the Lakers advanced 8-0. Dwight Howard missed four throws during that stretch and didn’t play well, prompting Rivers to enter Simmons as his team’s defensive center. A member of the Los Angeles bench saw the decision as “no rim protection” and the sentiment was not wrong given Simmons and his various defensive talents.
That said, when the Sixers replace Howard, the Sixers will be able to collect at least some offense and stabilize things a bit. Rivers ’desire to use Simmons in the center is certainly a significant development; It looks like the Sixers will start to add more if he imagines showing up in the Plex. Rivers gave Howard its usual backup center in the second half.
The Sixers regained the ability to draw Amybide’s fouls (along with many of his other skills, of course) after the Pistons lost the team’s loss on Monday with a retreat. Embid was 11 for 13 from the foul line and is now averaging 10.9 free throws per game through 15 contests.
Embid (28 points, six rebounds, four assists) was scared of injury in the third period when he went for an intoxication after contact with his chest and fell hard on the floor. He put his fist on the floor and got ginger but stayed in the game and threw both for free. James was called in for a fugitive 1 foul, although Ambide said after the game that he felt the 16-time All-Star should be fired.
Embed blew the whistle for his own 1 Flagrant about a minute later, when he hit Davis in the face with the elbow as he tried to draw incorrectly on the drive.
Above the complementary pieces
In a star-centric game, the Sixers won largely because their complementary players were better overall than the Lakers.
At a crucial stage early in the third quarter, Harris went into Gasol’s body and landed the ball to give the Sixers a 57-53 lead. Harris (24 points on 10-for-16 shooting) and Green (14 points on -11 shooting for 5 points) both immediately flowed three points, helping the Sixers to raise their advantage to 12 points, pushing the Lakers to deadline and Eliminate some of the discomfort caused by the second quarter’s return.
Although the Lakers did not go, Harris resurrected later in the third, converting a lefty layout, stopping Davis twice at the post one after the other and enabling the Sixers to maintain their lead. His all-star case definitely got a little stronger on Wednesday night, especially with his clutch jumper, to cap the high-play game.
“I hope we all do it together,” Harris said when asked about Emeryad and Simmons possibly being all-stars. “Naturally, this season we are playing great basketball as a team. We have MVP on our team in Joel. He has been playing lights out since day 1. Ben has been a great player. He has been at a great pace this year. Playing, really commanding everything and defensively, aggressively, doing the thing around him.
“I hope we all make the game. For myself, I’ve always been about winning and letting go, but I’m constantly playing at the All-Star level every day. I’m not always one. Tot my own horn but I’ve done it many times in the past where I felt I should have been there and not made it, so that would be my little chance from there. “
