All decisions were made before the final minutes of the first three wins of the Sixers after a -l-star break.
Tuesday night’s 99-96 win over the Knicks was a different story. The Sixers came down from nine to enter the final period to earn their sixth straight win and improve to 6-12-17.
Ryan Barrett fired incorrectly at a short jumper that would have tied the game with about 20 seconds left. Furkan Corkmaz was then deliberately fouled and one of the two was thrown free. Emanuel Quickly missed another potential game-building shot on the next possession, and the Sixers sealed the deal from there.
“The game was physical – a lot of possession, a lot of fouls,” said Doc Rivers, head coach of the Sixers. Very disappointing in my opinion, it was a good test for us, because this is how playoff games will be. Not all of them, but you will have a few like this, and you will have to find a way to win. To win this game tonight without Joel (embedded) on the floor and things don’t work out your way. There was a big statement by this team early on. “
Tobias Harris and Seth Curry were the leading scorers in the Sixers with 30 and 20 points respectively. Ben Simmons had 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists while Julius Randle led the Knicks with 19 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.
When the Sixers play the Bucks their streak will try to lengthen seven Wednesday nights. Here are three observations on his landslide victory over New York:
Throwback night
The sixers used for Sunday night’s 35-point win over the Spurs had trouble scoring in the first round from the same start.
Danny Green missed his first five shots after scoring 11 of the first 15 points of the Sixers against San Antonio. The Sixers started as a team at 2 for 11. New York played a physical, high-effort defense, which put constant pressure on Green, Curry and Harris to stay away from the Dutch and make it difficult for the Sixers to establish a rhythm.
Both Seekers and Knicks shot 40.9 percent off the floor in the first period, which was a good defensive focus and an off-target goal. As the Sixers president of basketball operations operations, Daryl Moore observed on Twitter that the game seemed to be taking place in another century.
Leela eventually made a shot and made four steals and a block, although her offensiveness has not improved overnight. The starter’s 1-for-10 shooting performance is difficult to overcome with the embedded (which turned 27-year-old Tuesday) left wound of the left knee bone. Corkmaj stopped the game over Green.
Not the first time this season, the turnover of the Sixers was costly, leading to an increase in New York transition crime. The Knicks, meanwhile, prevented the Sixers from getting too many fast-break opportunities, as the game was largely played on their own terms.
All told, the Knicks scored 22 Knicks points from 12 sixes. Not turning the ball once in the fourth quarter, the Sixers took excellent care of the ball under the stretch.
Depends on Harris
Struggling with the offense of the Sixers at the end of the second quarter and frustrated with the team executive, Harris made two important thrashes and Simmons went on to form one and one to tie the game.
The Knicks were not disappointed by that short swing in motion, however, gaining seven straight points and making an eight-point halftime lead. The Sixers, Harris and Dwight Howard posted 34 of the Sixers ’48 first-half 34 points. His teammates scored 4 for 21 from the floor.
Curry started rolling early in the third quarter, converting a four-point game, two catch-and-shoot thrashings and a runner. He also made three important key-forwards in the fourth.
Speaking of Harris, he has shown toughness this season to come when he is desperate to hit a six. After a quiet pull, he prepared two key buckets at the end of the fourth. He’s “I’m an All-Star” following his basket to put the Sixers on top of four.
“I’m just confirming this to myself,” Harris said. I know the fans know it, but I’m sure it will make big plays again and again for them and me. I just try to find inspiration in different areas. One of them, and after that, I think getting Joel out is just a challenge. It’s a new challenge that has presented itself to us as a team and I want to accept that challenge, because I know what kind of team we are with, and I know how good we are as a team even without it.
“Obviously, we need it, but at the same time I accept all those challenges. What someone has to say, it doesn’t really affect me because I know that when I see everyone in that locker room in the eye before the game, we’re ready to go there and win. “
They didn’t always match because the two didn’t mind switching switches, but it was fun to watch Harris vs Randall matchup. Both players have developed as leaders whose teams can lean on him, including the ability to reach the qualities of his favorite places with his ability to pass through Randall and fight through Harris contact that went out on Tuesday.
Rivers also wanted to make sure Harris’ defense was not ignored.
“Defensively tonight, Tobias was extraordinary,” he said, “as good as I saw her.” Got a ton of clang, got his hand there on Randall. I thought that was the key to the game – defending Tobias Harris. He allowed us to defend most of the Randall 1-on-1. It’s hard to do, because Randall is a player hack. I thought that was the key to the game. “
Howard has a big role to play
Howard had a tip-in at the end of the first quarter and a put-back slam at the start of the second.
Outside of its screening, rolling and outrageous rebounding, there wasn’t much else to do for the second unit of the Sixers in the first half. Former Sixer and current Nick Alec Burks, who scored 19 points, would probably be a useful player to call R Rivers. On the other end of the floor, Howard and the Sixers were satisfied to try to open the three-pointers to Taj Gibson, and he missed his first two.
That strategy was vocal against a 30 percent three-point shooter, but it would be interesting to see what the Sixers do without embedding when it faces a legal five-pointer. In theory, it might be the right time for Simmons to try harder at the center, although Howard’s energy and productivity are generally beyond condemnation in recent games. He recorded 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks against the Knicks.
Howard played 28 minutes on Tuesday, while Tony Bradley played 17. Perhaps the reverse was Bradley’s confidence that his 35-year-old center didn’t want to be left behind, but the split could be more than an argument in Howard’s direction, especially given that Bradley didn’t. Your night will not be good. Maybe Howard will play significantly more than Bradley but continuing to start games on the bench could be going to be the approach of the Rivers.
Howard has clearly liked playing against fans in the last two games at the Wells Fargo Center. After his fourth-quarter rejection at Randall, it was hard to believe that only 3,000 or more fans were in the building.
Why do rivers feel like Howard has raised his game level after an over-star level break?
“Probably the drinks he drank in Puerto Rico or wherever he went for a break,” Rivers joked. “He was able to relax. … I think he’s just that, number. I think the fans help. He’s loved by the audience. But he’s very important to us. I felt like he helped us in the first half. Stabilized and came in and did some plays. I thought the Knicks were with us in the physics department, and then we threw in Dwight and that all changed. That’s what he does for your team. “
