It was a cool, crisp LA Friday night (approximately 65 degrees with minimal wind). I had a few hours to kill and no Lakers to watch - but I was craving some form of basketball to consume.
So I went with my only option. Sixers vs. Hornets in Philadelphia. Thankfully, these two solid but shaky teams kept me modestly entertained for a few hours. The Hornets even came back after being down 20 and pushed it to overtime. I mainly tuned in to see how good Philadelphia looked, but the Hornets kept pace on their own attacking from all areas of the floor. Especially Kemba Walker(30 pts, 7 rebs, 9 assists, 1 steal 9/10 FT....but 9/29 FG). He hit some big-time shots to rally the Hornets from a deficit and even re-take the lead. He has been doing this since his days at UConn, when he eliminated my Arizona Wildcats in The Big Dance. He's an upcoming free agent so we will soon find out what fate holds for the perennially underestimated PG. See the game recap below!
Game Recap
First Half
The Sixers got off to a putrid start, looking out of sync on offense and surrendering easy buckets en route to falling in a 10-3 hole. Then the jumpers started to fall for Dario Saric and Robert Covington, eventually culminating in a 19-18 Philadelphia advantage with under six minutes to go in the first.
The teams played to a stalemate to conclude the first quarter, setting the scoreboard to a 33-33 tie. Then, the Sixers proceeded to cop a sizable advantage over the visiting Hornets 53-39. It was Philadelphia's combination of rim aggression and three-balls, with some tight defense to boot. The Sixers already had 21 fastbreak points with less than four minutes remaining in the half. That constant barrage of points prevented Charlotte from establishing a groove offensively while it simultaneously incited the Friday night Philly home crowd.
The Hornet's defense just exhibited a complete lack of focus at times. There were multiple possessions where guys were just standing around watching a wide-open guy chuck a ball up. Charlotte then tightened up their game somewhat. It looked like they were going to go into the second half with only a 10 point disadvantage. But instead, they let the Sixers pile five quick ones to bring it to a 65-50 game after the final buzzer of the first half.
Jeremy Lamb led all Hornets with a point total of 11, while Philly had three guys in double figures in Saric(12 points, 6 boards), Embiid(10 points, 9 boards), and Simmons(10 points, 8 assists). Ben Simmons was getting out on the open floor and making the Hornets pay every time.
Second Half
The third quarter started off pretty back and forth. The Hornets were making their midrange shots while the Sixers exhibited more ball movement en route to maintaining their 10+ point lead. Then the Sixers were back off to the races in transition, piling on bucket after bucket punctuated by a Joel Embiid slam straight down the middle. The Hornets had to call a timeout after that as they stared a near-20-point-hole right in the face, 75-57.
The Hornets had a chance to chop away at the lead as Philly's shots started to brick, and chop away they did as the lead shrunk to 11, 89-78 with three minutes remaining in the third. The Sixers ended up striking back in the waning minutes thanks to some monsters blocks from Joel Embiid. Defense led to offense as the Sixers hopped back up by 16. 96-80. But the Hornets spurred a mini-rally once again to cut the deficit to 11 as the third quarter expired, Sixers up 96-85.
The Hornets got down to business quickly and crossed the double-digit threshold to cut the lead to nine, 89-98. Charlotte then got within striking distance, making it only a two-possession game thanks to three free throws from Kemba Walker, 101-104 with seven minutes to play.
And with a Kevin Bacon midrange jumper, the Hornets retook the lead 105-104 with six minutes remaining. Charlotte was on a 20-4 run spurred by Kemba Walker's playmaking and scoring. The teams traded basket to tie it multiple times, 105-all, 107-all, 108-all. Philadelphia fell into a three-minute scoring drought, they could just not buy a bucket for the life of them! Cody Zeller continued the Hornets capitalization the Sixers by hitting a pair of free throws to push it to 110-108. That two-point lead felt larger than it was thanks to the lack of offense on the end of the Sixers.
Joel Embiid got to the line to put up some much needed points on the board, 110-112 with 2:30 to play. Kemba Walker then took the ball in his hands and found Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for a crucial basket underneath to make it 114-112. Then Joel Embiid went back to the line and hit both free throws to cut it down to two. Kemba came back and nailed a huuuuuge three at the top of the arc to take the life out of the Sixers and their spectators, 117-112 with 1:17 to go.
Joel Embiid went back to the line once again and hit a pair for free throws to make it a three-point game, and they defended incredibly at the other end to regain possession of the ball. Philadelphia ran a clusterfuck of a play with the ball ending up in Embiid's hands, and the big man stepped up and nailed a three to tie the game 117-all! He was responsible for the last nine points for the Sixers and was taking them home down the stretch. 30 seconds left in the game.
Kemba Walker was the man for the Hornets, so had to expect he'd have the ball in crunch time for the Buzz. He drove hard to the hole and delivered a key layup for the visitors to regain the lead, 119-117. Philly ran a play for Embiid down in the post, which ended up drawing a foul on Cody Zeller to take him out of the game. Embiid was back at the line and made both free throws to lock it up at 119. Kemba Walker then faced up Robert Covington with a chance to win, but he threw up an airball of a floater that expired the shot clock. With 1.9 seconds JJ Reddick heaved up a prayer to win the game for the Sixers - but he missed short. We were headed to overtime.
Overtime
Overtime started with a quick succession of scores by each side. Alley-oops, 20-foot pullups, pretty dunks, and hard drives to the rim. Then both teams fell into a mini scoring drought until Kemba Walker broke the silence by hitting a free throw. He missed the second attempt though, and the Sixers converted at the other end on a scramble of a play that resulted in a JJ Reddick jumper. 127-124 Sixers lead. Charlotte tried striking back in the paint but the Sixers swarmed them and regained possession. Philly couldn't convert and the Hornets raced down to the other end for a long assist, resulting in an and-1 muscle bucket from Malik Monk. Joel Embiid found his way back to the line to give the Sixers the lead back with one and a half to play, 129-127.
Malik Monk pulled up for the three at the top of the arc for one of the Hornets last chances to go ahead, but he bricked which led to a Ben Simmons layup at the other end. The Hornets managed to get a tip-in immediately after to which Ben Simmons countered with free throws on the other side. He hit one of two to give the Sixers a three-point lead with 20 seconds left in OT. Charlotte had their backs against the wall. They found Walker for a desperation corner three - but he was blocked on the closeout! Charlotte managed to regain possession but they threw up another horrible miss and surrendered the ball to Philly, who got Embiid back at the charity stripe for free throws. He hit one of two to put the game out of reach. Willy Hernangomez made a three at the other end, but there wasn't enough time on the clock to get another shot up. Sixers escape with the win 133-132.
Takeaways
I was really rooting for Charlotte to take this one, but alas Philly took home the victory. Give Joel Embiid credit for hitting like 20 free throws at the end. to tie or grab the narrow lead. Sixers fans probably aren't totally pleased with this victory. On paper, they should've won this game by like fifteen. I think Charlotte has assembled a scrappy team for themselves though. Kemba Walker, their spiritual leader, is at a point where he's seen it all. Especially in the regular season. If you put him on a team next to a superstar that needs scoring, he could definitely answer the call
Joel Embiid(42 pts, 18 rebs, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 11/18 FG, 19/22 FT) really took things over in crunch time. He was their go-to guy on the block. I haven't seen a ton of Sixers games so I don't know if that's the usual operating procedure. Does Ben Simmons ever take over with buckets? Or does he just look to facilitate given his shooting woes? Let me know what your watching experiences have been in the comments.
We didn't see a whole lot of game-swaying action from Fultz tonight. Those who want to see him fail will probably be like, "SEE! TOLD YOU HE WAS A BUST" while those who are giving him a chance will call for more time. I side with the people who want more time to analyze Fultz. The shot needs work, but I don't think the guy has played enough meaningful NBA minutes to write the final chapter on his career in what shapes up to be his first full year. He's athletic and has a litany of other tools to utilize outside of the shot. Let's see if things develop. Is he going to be a guy who ends up fixing his shot like Chauncey Billups? Or is he always going to have a broken jumper? Nobody knows for sure, so people need to stop acting like they've already seen the future. I hope the kid figures it out. Peep the full highlights of the game below
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