Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia 76ers
Game Recap: 76ers 114, Trail Blazers 89
Snapshot: In the span of about 48 hours, the 76ers (5-37) showed just how much they learned from a difficult overtime setback. As they did in Thursday’s 115-111 loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Sixers tore through Saturday’s opening half at a blistering pace. This time, however, Brett Brown’s group made sure it finished the job. In beating the Portland Trail Blazers (18-25) 114-89 at The Center, the Sixers registered their largest margin of victory of the year, and managed to bookend a season-long six-game homestand with wins.
Proving to be an important tone-setter, Jahlil Okafor played possessed in the first quarter. He knocked down his first seven field goal attempts, all of which were taken from a distance of at least six feet from the rim. He had generated 17 points by the time the period had come to a close, and staked his squad to a 12-point lead through the 12 minutes of play. The Sixers’ fortunes only improved in the second frame, which, with the club bursting for 39 points, ended up being its highest-scoring quarter of the season. The Sixers held a commanding 68-43 advantage at intermission, and pushed their lead to past 30 points several times in the second half.
Okafor topped all scorers with 25 points. He converted 12 of his 16 field goal attempts, and, with 10 rebounds, tallied his ninth double-double. Okafor was not alone in providing the Sixers with impact contributions. Richaun Holmes, who had been held out of three consecutive tilts before logging three minutes on Thursday, muscled his way to 17 points, one shy of his career-high. Robert Covington’s 16 points and four three-pointers were promising follow-ups to his 25-point effort versus Chicago. Isaiah Canaan scored 14 points.
On the defensive end, Nerlens Noel helped anchor one of the Sixers’ more effective efforts of the campaign. He snatched eight rebounds, while adding four steals and four blocks. The Sixers bested Portland by seven boards, a noteworthy statistic given that the Trail Blazers took the court Saturday as the NBA’s fifth-best rebounding team. The Blazers were kept below 90 points for just the seventh time this season, and limited to shooting 39.1 percent from the field.
The Sixers delivered their triumph on Saturday in wire-to-wire fashion. The 25-point win was their largest since March 29, 2014, when they knocked off the Detroit Pistons by the same margin.
Top Moment:
Think Nerlens Noel is the only member of the Sixers’ roster who benefits from Ish Smith’s lob-throwing prowess? Think again. Making his 15th start of the season, JaKarr Sampson provided an overpowering finish to one of the nine fastbreak field goals the Sixers generated against Portland.
http://www.csnphilly.com/video_content_type/highlights-sampson-throws-down-lob-smith?guid=XUdKhyZiPmvihCaCN2i_iiP_jNVxDpm9&t=7
The Sixers’ ability to run on the Blazers was one of the contest’s key storylines. They ended the evening with a 22-8 edge in fastbreak points. Another pivotal theme from Saturday that was also reflected in the above sequence was the Sixers used their defense to create scoring opportunities. Isaiah Canaan’s steal was one of the six the Sixers recorded on the night.
Brett Brown Said – On the Sixers matching a season-best 114 points in their win over the Portland Trail Blazers, and earning a season-high 25-point margin of victory:
“You truly enjoy it. My guys deserve it. They work hard. You saw it. They play hard. They do that more than they don’t. Sometimes, we’re just not rewarded. [Saturday] we were, and we were rewarded big. I think it’s fantastic for the city to see that every once in awhile. To be reminded of our young guys progress, and to get a win like that is good for all of us.”
Notes and Quotes:
With LaMarcus Aldridge highlighting the contingent of veterans that left Portland via free agency and trades last summer, Damian Lillard has since become the face of the Rip City franchise. The fourth-year point guard was named an All-Star each of the last two seasons, and entered Saturday’s contest ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring, averaging 25.0 points per game. On Friday in Brooklyn, Lillard posted 33 points and handed out 10 assists. He managed to do all that without committing a single turnover. Brett Brown saw the footage, and was impressed.
“To say he’s got some Steph Curry in him is a heck of a compliment, but I think he deserves it,” said Brown. “He really can score. And I’m assuming the empowerment he feels with this new team, this team that’s sort of on the rebuild type discussion table, he’s empowered, and he’s good. He can score. He really is having a great year. He’s a legitimate scoring threat all over the place.”
Lillard isn’t the only member of the Trail Blazers’ backcourt on pace for a career year. C.J. McCollum, taken 10th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, was averaging 20.6 points going into Saturday’s tilt, after accounting for 6.3 points per game through his first two seasons.
In addition to their prolific scoring, Lillard and McCollum share in common a somewhat parallel path to the pros. Both were four-year members of “mid-major” collegiate programs. Lillard went to Weber State, and McCollum to Lehigh.
“I think mostly it’s their maturity,” said Portland head coach Terry Stotts about the benefits Lillard and McCollum have derived from their extensive experiences competing at the NCAA level. “A lot of times people look at four-year guys, as maybe they’re closer to their ceiling than someone who’s 19 coming out as a freshman. I think they’ve both proven that staying four years, you still have room to grow, and improve. The maturity level, particularly, not just four-year guys, but four-year guys from mid-majors, their background is a lot different than a lot of players in the NBA.”
Lillard and McCollum combine for more than 45 points per game, and have formed the third-most potent teammate pairing in the NBA, trailing Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (50.9 points per game) and Golden State’s Steph Curry and Klay Thompson (50.4 points per game). Saturday, however, was not their night. The Sixers stifled tandem, containing them for a total of 27 points. Lillard and McCollum were 10 for 36 from the field, and two for 12 from outside the arc.
The Sixers were without both Jerami Grant and Nik Stauskas on Saturday. For Grant, the absence was his second in a row. He had appeared in each of the Sixers’ first 40 contests before being diagnosed with a left calf injury following last Sunday’s meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stauskas hurt his left shoulder in the fourth period of Thursday’s overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.
“I thought Jerami had a chance to play [Saturday],” said Brett Brown. “I think both should play on Monday [at New York], but I can’t promise that.”
Down two players who were starting at the end of last week, Brown put JaKarr Sampson and Isaiah Canaan into the line-up. Sampson filled in for Grant on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls. For Canaan, the start was his first in six games.
“With [C.J.] McCollum and [Damian] Lillard, it affords us the chance to bring Isaiah back into this, from a defensive standpoint,” Brown Brown said, explaining his rationale for giving Canaan the nod. “I think that with Jerami out and Nik out it even more clarifies the need for Isaiah.”
Canaan rewarded his head coach’s instincts. In 31 minutes, he provided a critical spark, draining 14 points by hitting five of his 10 field goal attempts. Two of his makes were triples. Canaan took the floor Saturday having gone three for 26 from the field and two for 17 from three-point territory over his previous three appearances. Defensively, he helped the Sixers put the clamps both Lillard and McCollum.
Tucked in between the street clothes and jerseys hanging in Carl Landry’s locker before the Saturday’s game was a particularly noteworthy garment: a Green Bay Packers jersey. Green Bay is the closest NFL franchise to Landry’s hometown of Milwaukee. He busted out the Packers apparel for the team’s NFC Divisional Round playoff match-up with the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night.
Particularly significant was the player whose replica Landry owned. The green jersey had the number “92” printed in white, for Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White. White spent his first seven years in the NFL with the Eagles.
“He was just one of my favorite players, the way he attacked the defense, and relentless in the pursuit of the quarterback, or offensive player,” Landry said about why he rooted for White. “Him and [former Green Bay nose tackle] Gilbert Brown were my two favorite players.”
Landry said he’s always been a “huge football fan.” Standing at 6’9” tall, and weighing 248 pounds, the ninth-year forward boasts a build that might pass for that of a gridder. Growing up, though, his mom wouldn’t let him to play.
Next Up:
The Sixers begin a two-game, three-day road trip by paying their second and final visit of the regular season to Madison Square Garden, where, on Monday, they’ll tip off against the New York Knicks (20-22) in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee at 1:00 PM EST. New York has taken both meetings this season between the Atlantic Division rivals, and three straight overall. Aiming to post a winning record for the first time in three years, the Knicks have been a streaky squad in their second campaign under head coach Derek Fisher. After opening the season 8-6, New York then went on to drop eight of its next 10 outings. Following the Christmas holiday, the Knicks were still four games below .500, but have since reversed their fortunes, earning victories in five of their past eight appearances. They closed a two-game trek on Saturday with a 103-95 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Carmelo Anthony (21.6 pts, 7.6 reb, 3.8 ast) and Kristaps Porzingis (13.9 pts, 8.0 reb) have both been nursing injuries as of late. Anthony has missed two games in a row with a right ankle sprain. Porzingis played Saturday, despite dealing with a tender shoulder.
