November 12, 2016
Matt Slocum/AP
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid in action during an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers, Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, in Philadelphia.
Sitting on 44 consecutive losses in the months of October and November dating all the way back to 2013, the Sixers looked like they had Friday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers won in regulation. With 25 seconds left, T.J. McConnell stepped to the line for two shots already up four points. In roughly 99 percent of NBA games, the outcome was all but decided.
Not with these Sixers, though. Win number one wasn’t coming without at least some late-game hijinks.
McConnell made just one of two free throws. On the other end, Monta Ellis took all of three seconds to earn a three-point play opportunity, which he converted. The Sixers (questionably) took a 20-second timeout, advanced the ball, and Sergio Rodriguez promptly dropped Dario Saric’s inbounds pass. On the other end of the floor, Gerald Henderson hacked Paul George with two seconds left as if the Sixers had a foul to give. One problem: The Pacers were in the bonus. George made both free throws, and with a little over two seconds left, we were somehow, someway all tied up.
The Aristocrats Sixers!
But unlike Wednesday night in Indianapolis, the Sixers were able to regroup, get their first win of the season, and break that pesky little streak. They defeated the Pacers 109-105 in overtime.
“We’ve seen end of games and tight games for a while now and we all understand that there is a long way to go,” Brett Brown said. “But the bottom line is we got our first win and the room feels great about themselves. And I am very happy for them.”
As is the case most nights with this team, the story on the floor pretty much starts and ends with Joel Embiid. After battling early foul trouble and then struggling through most of the first three quarters, “The Process” was the Sixers’ bell cow down the stretch. Whether it was running spread pick-and-roll with Rodriguez or simply posting up on the left block, the Sixers rode Embiid. And unlike in his recent performances, Embiid was able to deliver, finishing with 11 points on 3-8 shooting (2-4 from the line) in 7:19 of action.
One problem: Once the late collapse happened, Embiid’s 24 minutes had all been spent by Brown. The 7’2” center was pulled at the start of overtime in favor of Richaun Holmes and he reacted very emotionally on the bench. Embiid, who pleaded to stay in the game to the point of tearing up, thought he was done for the night.
You could argue that all Embiid had to do was trust the process. The Sixers needed a win in the absolute worst way, and he gave them the best chance of capturing that elusive W. So with the Sixers ahead by one and 1:57 left on the clock in the extra period, Brown subbed him back in.
Sports science and all, was there ever any doubt?
“I had to check with my lawyer and all that,” Brown joked about cheating the minutes limit by about a hundred seconds.
Good thing he did. Embiid scored five points (including a huge three-point play against strong #FormerSixer Lavoy Allen), played solid defense, and helped seal the win. Games in this league are generally won and lost by stars, and while Embiid has a ways to go on that front, the potential is already evident.
“When you have Paul George, Jo showed us toward the end that those go-to guys, that’s the NBA,” Brown said. “You find your guy and you go and play through them, off them, and so on. Jo came in and I thought his game just went to a much higher level given what we had seen though the 48 minutes.”
“The chance to make shots in the clutch and make plays in the clutch is a learning process,” Embiid said. “And you got to trust it.”
For the Sixers, this slow start to the season felt a little different than the last two years. Against what was a pretty tough schedule, they were playing competitive basketball more times than not. But until they were able to get off the schneid, the Sixers were going to be a national story.
“You find your guy and you go and play through them, off them, and so on. Jo came in and I thought his game just went to a much higher level given what we had seen though the 48 minutes.”
So regardless of how the win came, they’ll certainly take it.
“It’s huge,” Nik Stauskas (14 points, 5-7 shooting) said of regrouping in overtime. “I think it’s almost like getting the monkey off our back kind of. We’ve kind of thrown away a lot of close games this year so far. Obviously we didn’t like the way we finished off that fourth, but to fight through in that overtime and still come through with that win, that’s important for us. Hopefully we can build off that moving forward.”
Even with the brutal late-game execution, the Sixers finally have a win. And for now, that is only what matters.
• The Sixers planned to use Jahlil Okafor in the same way they did last week against Orlando: He would suit up but only step on the floor in case of emergency. Just like last week, Okafor is scheduled to play the second half of the back-to-back against Atlanta in place of Embiid.
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. Embiid’s two super-quick fouls meant that Okafor was needed for a quick three-minute spell in the first quarter, in which he wasn’t very effective (0 points, 0-2 FG).
“It wasn’t on the cards, I was not going to play him,” Brown said. “And because of the early foul trouble, we put Jah in.”
The plan is to still play Okafor in HOTLANTA Saturday night. Embiid will make the trip with the goal of playing in Houston on Monday night.
• Whether it’s his shot or a teammate’s that goes in, Rodriguez has some pretty solid post three-point celebrations.
• Embiid had some good moments (as he always does), but it felt like he and the team experienced some trouble getting into the flow of the offense for most of the game. Still, the guy seems to get to the line by accident and he’s a good shooter once he gets there.
The rookie is already a very efficient scorer (key word there) because on a bad shooting night like tonight (6-18 FG), he went 12-14 from the line. Once he figures out how to take care of the ball and finds better shots, look out.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
