Philly Sports Jabronis
By Max Rappaport, Sixers.com
DALLAS –– It was a game in which nothing seemed to go right. From the jump, the Mavericks pressed their foot firmly upon the gas pedal and relented. They quickly built a double-digit lead early in the game, running their offense so methodically that it appeared at times as if they were playing with a man advantage.
The Sixers took a 38-10 deficit into the second quarter, and that differential ballooned to 73-29 at halftime. The game, which was decided well before the final buzzer signaled the end of the 123-70 loss, is one that Sixers head coach Brett Brown would like his team to move past. It’s also one that he knows will be hard to forget.
“We talked a lot about the good news – it’s the NBA, [and] you get another game tomorrow. The bad news is it doesn’t go away. It’s like water dripping on your forehead, and there’s no place to hide,” he said. “The thing I feel bad about is to see what they do every single day – they don’t cheat days; nobody skips days. And they work their tails off, and the whole process is solid… So we wake up tomorrow and we find a way to move on and try to find ways to grow from this.”
But the lopsided defeat was not without a silver lining. Thursday night marked the return of reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams in his first live action since undergoing shoulder surgery in May.
Entering the game alongside Nerlens Noel at the 6:41 mark of the first quarter, the 6’6” point guard wasted no time. He received an inbound pass after a made free throw by Jameer Nelson and sprinted down the court, driving left and slipping by his defender before jamming with two hands.
The sequence was reminiscent of the 23-year-old’s steal and transition dunk on the first play of last year’s season-opening victory against the Miami Heat. While the result of Thursday’s game was markedly different, and Carter-Williams’ stat line fell short of the near quadruple-double performance he posted in his career debut, the second-year point guard showed flashes of the skill and poise that has made him one of the league’s premier young talents.
He finished the game with a team-high 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting and got to the free-throw line 10 times while also contributing eight rebounds and five assists in a game-high 30 minutes of action.
After the game, his focus was squarely on the primary task at hand, helping his 0-8 Sixers find their first win of the young season.
“None of us in this locker room will ever get used to losing like that. None of us will ever get used to losing period,” he said. “I think if we’re going to win, we have to earn it, we have to play harder than everyone else. No one’s going to roll over and let us win.”
Next Up
The Sixers have a quick turnaround, as they’ll take on the Rockets in Houston at 8pm (EST) Friday in the second game of a three-game road trip against the three Texas teams. Catch the action on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and 97.5 The Fanatic FM.
