Sixers Beat Minnesota, 109-99, for 4th Win of Season

Report From Philadelphia 76ers

Game Recap: 76ers 109, Timberwolves 99

Snapshot: For the better part of his third season with the 76ers (4-33), Brett Brown has focused on trying to help his youthful team meet the challenge of, as he puts it, “walking down games.” Thanks to the clutch contributions of a pair of veterans recently integrated into the roster, the Sixers managed to deliver a close-out fourth-quarter performance in their 109-99 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves (12-23) Monday at The Center. The win marked the Sixers’ third in their past six games.

Leading by three points with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Sixers ratcheted up their intensity. Ninth-year power forward Carl Landry, the most experienced active Sixer, muscled his way to the offensive glass for an authoritative rebound, and subsequently punched in two points. The aggressive, determined sequence set the tone for a pivotal juncture during which the Sixers relied on timely two-way play to outscore Minnesota 12-4, and put the game out of reach. Over the course of that stretch, the Sixers recorded three of their 10 blocked shots, forced two turnovers, and converted six of their nine field goal attempts. As a result, their margin grew to 12 points with 67 seconds to go, leaving the Timberwolves too little time to dent a deficit that large.

Ish Smith, now in his sixth NBA season, paced the Sixers with 21 points (9-16 fg) and 11 assists, registering his second double-double since re-joining the team. He now has seven double-doubles overall this campaign. Smith, who made his Sixers debut December 26th, and Landry, whose first appearance came on December 23rd, teamed up to generate 16 of the Sixers’ 29 points in the final frame. Landry tallied a season-high-tying 16 points overall. The Sixers also received a boost from rookie forward Richaun Holmes’ 17 points (7-10 fg). Landry and Holmes fuel a bench effort that accounted for 61 points in all.

Minnesota was led by Shabazz Muhammed, who posted 20 points. Karl-Anthony Towns, the number one overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, was limited to eight points and six rebounds, again plagued by foul trouble, as he was in his first meeting versus the Sixers in November. Andrew Wiggins scored 16 points.

Top Moment:

With under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Sixers ramped things up offensively, and locked down defensively. In the video package linked below, take a look back on the key plays that allowed the Sixers to string together a vital 6-0 spurt, which ultimately ballooned the club’s cushion to 10 points down the stretch.

http://www.csnphilly.com/video_content_type/highlights-sixers-pull-away-…

Brett Brown Said – On factors that contributed to the Sixers’ offensive execution in their 109-99 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves:

“I think that we moved the ball well, but I also think that when you have Carl [Landry] come in and make 18-20 footers at the rate that he does, it sure loosens things up. I thought Richaun [Holmes] was good around the rim. I thought Ish [Smith] made some timely baskets obviously to close out the game. But I think the ball moved well, and we made some shots.”

Notes and Quotes:

With the Sixers having re-signed Elton Brand, the team now has two former lottery-picks on the roster that boast Duke University pedigrees. Brand played two seasons for Mike Krzyzewski before entering the 1999 NBA Draft. He went number one to the Chicago Bulls. Jahlil Okafor spent his freshman campaign with the Blue Devils last year, winning the NCAA National Championship in April. He was selected third overall in June.

While the two forwards didn’t have extensive personal interaction prior to Monday, when Brand made his comeback to the Sixers, the two had learned about each other’s backgrounds through the Duke community.

“Just from Coach K, and hearing about this young, talented kid from Chicago, and the moves he had,” Brand said of Okafor. “Great kid. Just his basketball stuff. I didn’t know him personally much. I don’t want to date myself, but he might not have been born when I played with the Bulls.”

For the record, Okafor turned four years old shortly after Brand made his professional debut.

“Going to Duke, you always hear about the great big men,” said Okafor on Monday. “He was drafted the position I played, and he was always a guy that I heard about that dominated in college, and obviously, he was an All-Star in the NBA. I’m excited to learn from him, and I think it’s going to be a great addition to the team.”

Brand observed Monday’s victory from the Sixers’ bench.

Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns went head-to-head in the regular season for the second time in their professional careers. As was the case when they met on November 23rd at Target Center, Okafor emerged with the more productive final stat line, registering 10 points (5-8 fg) and three rebounds in 21 minutes. At one stage early in Monday’s third quarter, he delivered a dominant display while scoring eight straight points for the Sixers. Towns, meanwhile, notched eight points (4-8 fg) and six rebounds in 25 minutes.

Before Monday’s game, Towns spoke about his takeaways from the first battle he had with Okafor, saying, “Obviously, he’s talented. We all saw that. We both had a great time playing against each out there, being out there. But we both want to win. That’s why we don’t look at individual match-ups. We look at winning.”

Okafor paces all rookies with an average of 17.3 points per game. Towns, second among his peers in points and first in rebounding, was selected as the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for a second month in a row.

For the first time since returning from his two-game right knee injury absence, Jahlil Okafor received the Sixers’ starting center assignment. He appeared alongside Nerlens Noel, who moved back to power forward, which was also a first in four contests. Both finished with 10 points, and combined to convert 10 of their 14 field goal attempts. Okafor grabbed three boards, while Noel had nine rebounds.

“Jah will rack up offensive numbers until he retires. He will do that kind of easily. It’s just what he is at this stage,” Brett Brown said. “We’re always looking at the defensive side. He’s improving in that area.”

Brown added that spacing is his primary area of focus and judgment when it comes to using Okafor and Noel together as a frontcourt tandem.

Next Up:

For the first time since they headed West a week and a half ago for five straight road contests, the Sixers will go consecutive days without playing a game. The team will next be on the court Thursday at 7:00 PM EST, when it continues its six-game homestand versus the Atlanta Hawks (21-14). After compiling the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference a year ago, Atlanta currently shares the fourth-place position in the standings. The Sixers first faced the Hawks on December 16th, and were handed a 127-106 setback. The result triggered a six-game surge for the Hawks, which was the highlight of a 7-1 stretch for the club following a three-game slide. While Kyle Korver remains a dangerous three-point threat, having generated an Atlanta-best 60 triples this season, his accuracy from beyond the arc has experienced a drop-off. After leading the NBA in three-point shooting the past two campaigns, his current 36.3 percentage from the perimeter is tied for 55th among qualified players.