The performance of the Sixers hitting their blow on Magic on Thursday night was difficult to top spot.
They were not so good defensively on Saturday night, when the team blitzened the Hornets with an early offensive superiority and won 127-112 at the Wells Fargo Center, leading 5-1.
The Sixers hit double figures and each starter will shoot at least 57.1 percent off the floor. Tobias Harris posted the team’s top 24 points, and Ben Simmons made a triple double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Hornets will travel to Philadelphia on Monday night to play the Sixers again.
Here are observations on the first game of their mini-series:
Gets the rhythm of green, the offense of sixers keeps flowing
Danny Green was forced to find his shooting stroke at some point after missing as a six in his first 19 three-point 15 attempts. It didn’t take him long to do so on Saturday, as the 33-year-old converted his first three attempts from a distance. All of those incidents came under the stream of crime, and the two were byproducts of Seth Curry driving and kicking him.
“Naturally, the key is that we were shooting well,” Green said after the game. “I think most teams, if you swing the ball and find an open man, most unrivaled shots are very easy. We know the worm is turning and we’re going to take some art or some flaws or stages where we He shouldn’t shoot either, but at least he’s getting the best shots for our team. ”
The Sixers scored 8 of their first 12 three-point attempts as a team, while Charlotte started 2 for 10, while Hornett’s decision to play the zone on occasion made them understand what they were accepting in size and skill, but he was able to take an offensive stance. Sixers to adopt and release long-distance jumpers.
After missing his first six NBA thrashings, Tyrese sank one in the second quarter of Maxi Simmons Transition Assistance.
The Sixers build an open look with many fluid early offense before the Hornets’ defense is arranged. Simmons thrives on that style and had 21 assists from the team’s first half. He has a total of 188 points in the first half of the last six games. Not bad.
“It starts with defense,” Sims said. “We have to get a rebound, that’s the first thing – or a stop. Then the transition is easy. You’ve got the cow filling the lane, either me, Seth or Tobias pressing the ball, and then you (Joel Embid) who’s in shape and everyone The game has done its ass job based on being able to run the floor.
“When he does this, I think we can’t stop. So, people want to play with that speed. I think we can. I don’t know how fast we can play, but we push. Continue. Limits. “
Daryl Moore, Sixers president of basketball operations operations, firmly believes that Maxi would be a better shooter as a professional than studying in college (29.2 percent in Kentucky), respecting the threat of his shot would be an early, important step defense for the storm. If he can get to that location and become known as a competent shooter to resist scouting reports, he oses Bhela risk as an explosive downhill driver. For now, Maxi will be well served by trusting her jumper and denying many chances of fire.
Harris keeps it simple (and very effective)
Because he usually catches the ball and attacks immediately, there’s not much to say about Harris ’offense at this point; This is what the Sixers want it to be.
He ran the floor in the first quarter and conceded a move to Simmons Pass. Harris’ other first quarter was entirely his own, and it’s even more impressive.
Harris was also an engaged, hustling defender, finishing with four steels and three blocks.
“When I see him do that, it inspires everyone to keep doing their job,” Simmons said. He was not there when Tobias came here defensively. And he’s pushed it forward – he’s stealing a lot, he’s getting his hands on the streets, blocking shots. He has made a huge leap defensively since last year. He has been on both sides of the ball, which is the main factor of our team. And it will happen if we want to win the championship. ”
Harris was one of the starters of the Sixers who played a little more with the second unit. Furcan Corkmaz was still sidelined by a left knee injury and Mike Scott, as head coach Doc Rivers decided to use nine-player rotation and mix his early and bench players more often due to a left knee infection.
Since Bismack By Bombo is the only healthy center of rotation for the Hornets and Charlotte plays a small ball when he sits down, it didn’t hurt the Sixers that the Harris team’s only available power is ahead. In the bigger picture, though, it’s probably the area where the Sixers will see depth added before the trade deadline.
Good trends for embed
We’re already wreaking havoc on broken record territories, but Embed’s impressive work of reading double teams was a big part of the Sixers ’offensive success in the first half. Seeing him coming before help arrived, he knew where his teammates were and usually did the right thing, whether it was a skip pass, a feed to a cutter or a simple dish that just gave him the ball. His passing has helped the Sixers repeatedly start beautiful sequences where they whip the ball around the perimeter and eventually make an open three.
“Mostly, I’d say the first pass in front of it is where we’re looking,” Rivers said. “But we’re putting Seth there or Danny Green or Tobias there, so they’re just trying to get him, which really helps us.
“Now he’s watching and he’s throwing a skip pass, which leads to three corners. I just love that he knows now, if I can throw it to the first person, something good is going to happen. Something good if they take it in. On the other hand going to happen, I think Ben is doing a great job with his time on the dives. Now he’s taking someone with him. So I just like how we’re doing it right now. “
Embid has made a few turnovers on Saturday, hoping to move forward successfully, including a No. 3 pick. The overall pick Lamello Bo Le took him after a defensive rebound and one where he lost the ball trying to spin Biomobo backwards.
Another positive trend with Embed that remained relentless in the game was its more aggressive pick-and-roll defense, preventing opposing guards from comfortably stepping into pull-up threes. It was noteworthy that small, fast defenders like Terry Rosier and Devonte Graham who would have been happy to take such a shot against the Sixers in recent years, sometimes needed to take a different approach by playing “touch up” with the embedded.
That said, Rosier (35 points) still gave the Greens and the Sixers problems. Saturday’s biggest team-wide issues were uneven transition defense and opioids in the second half as the offense wasn’t quite as intense or smooth after halftime.
