Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia 76ers
Game Recap: Pelicans 121, Sixers 114
Snapshot: NEW ORLEANS, LA – When the 76ers (8-46) stepped onto the court at Smoothie King Center Friday night, it marked the first time in eight days that they had gathered to play a game. The lengthy lay-off seemed to have an effect. Despite a strong second stanza, the Sixers were unable to overcome a hefty halftime deficit, as they fell to the New Orleans Pelicans (21-33), 121-114.
Returning from the NBA All-Star Game break, the Sixers found themselves battling uphill throughout the evening, due mostly in part to the prolific start delivered by New Orleans’ All-Star Anthony Davis. The big man generated 18 of his game-best 34 points in the opening frame, and helped power the Pelicans to a 71-55 advantage at the break.
In the third quarter, the Sixers countered by turning their own front line men loose. Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel combined to account for 20 of the Sixers’ first 22 points of the period. Okafor scored all of his 14 points in the third. While contending with Davis, the Sixers’ rookie picked up three personal fouls in the first seven minutes of the game. He ended up fouling out with just over six minutes remaining in regulation.
Noel, meanwhile, finished with 24 points (10-15 fg), which stands as a new season-high, and the second-highest total of his two-year career. He also hauled in nine rebounds, and handed out four assists.
After stringing together a 16-5 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters, the Sixers’ managed to trim New Orleans’ margin, which was as large as 22 points, down to a single point, 94-93. The Pelicans, led by their veteran bench, then responded with seven points in a row.
Former Sixer Jrue Holiday and sharp-shooter Ryan Anderson were crucial contributors during this stretch. Holiday netted 24 points and a season-best 12 assists, manufacturing his third double-double of the year. Anderson went off for 26 points.
Brett Brown Said – On the factors that enabled the New Orleans Pelicans to establish a 71-55 lead over the Sixers by the end of Friday’s first half:
“They jumped us. We haven’t played in nine days. It felt like it, and looked like it.”
Top Moments:
Facing a 12-point deficit with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, the Sixers received a critical spark from their bench. Kendall Marshall, who had been held out of 14 of the Sixers’ previous 20 games, rapidly tallied two three-pointers and a steal in less than 30 seconds. Here’s a look at the sequence, which fueled the reinvigorating surge that brought the Sixers to within a point 52 seconds into the fourth quarter.
And here’s how the above plays sounded on the Sixers Radio Network, with Tom McGinnis at the microphone.
Notes and Quotes:
While Friday might have represented the day the Sixers returned from the NBA All-Star Game break, the league itself resumed the season on Thursday. There were three games that night, none of which, based on the box scores, looked especially pretty. Brett Brown caught some of the action on TV, and what he observed made him cautious heading into the Sixers’ pairing with New Orleans.
“Some of the games I’ve seen so far are ratty,” he said. “How can we not be a little nervous? I think the games that we’ve already seen confirm, they’re human. They haven’t played basketball for a while. We got to get going like everybody else in the NBA, but the games that I have seen so far around the league confirm that it does take a little bit of time to find a rhythm again.”
Friday’s first half at Smoothie King Center confirmed Brown’s hunch. The Sixers trailed by 11 points after the first quarter, and then by 16 points at the break. Over the opening two quarters, the Sixers yielded 15 turnovers, which led to 17 points for the Pelicans.
The second half was a different story. In particular, the Sixers controlled the third quarter, outscoring the Pelicans 35-21 in the period. The Sixers converted 12 of their 18 field goal attempts in the third frame, while allowing New Orleans to hit a mere seven of its 21 shots.
In the end, the Pelicans had built up enough insurance in the first half to hold off the comeback-minded Sixers.
The pipeline of professional basketball players to come out of Chicago is long and fertile. On Friday, Jahlil Okafor and Anthony Davis, two of the more recent players to emerge from the city’s hoops circuit, squared off at Smoothie King Center.
“We’re friends, being a Chicago guy,” said Okafor in New Orleans. “We played each other in high school, and always saw him around the city. I’m good friends with him.”
Davis is roughly two years and nine months older than Okafor, and is three seasons ahead of Okafor in terms of NBA experience. During that gap of time, Davis has made all three of his All-Star Game appearances.
“I’m just a fan of his, big fan of his,” Okafor said. “He just blew up out of nowhere kind of. One day, he was just the number one player in the country, went off to Kentucky, won a championship, and after that he was on the USA team and won a gold medal. There’s just a lot of things happening for him, and he was able to capitalize off that, he’s done really better. So a lot of respect for that.”
Brett Brown is another member of the Sixers who has ample respect for the top choice of the 2012 draft.
“Where do you begin?,” Brown wondered aloud on Saturday in beginning to highlight Davis’ skillset. “From a long time ago, you pay attention to his gifts. I pay attention so much to the international scene, with the United States team, as much as I did at Kentucky, as much as you do in the NBA, he just continues to develop and continues to get better. He is a legitimate franchise-type cornerstone to a program. You don’t anoint somebody freely like I just did. That is a select group. He’s amongst it. On different nights, some people put him as high as high can be. I just know we respect what he can do to a basketball game and influence a game on both sides, he’s really, really good. He’s a great example for our young bigs.”
Friday’s shootaround was the first time the Sixers had conducted on-court activities since the details of their three-team trade from Thursday were announced. The Sixers wound up acquiring veteran forward Joel Anthony from Detroit, and a 2017 second-round selection from the Houston. As a result, JaKarr Sampson was placed on waivers, in order to create roster room.
Brett Brown reflected fondly on the time that the constantly-upbeat, always-smiling Sampson spent with the Sixers.
“I miss JaKarr,” said Brown. “He played with just amazing personality, he played with a spirit. He was a college four-man that played and started games as an NBA point guard. The evolution of him playing all over the place and bringing an spirit to our group will be missed.”
Sampson, who Brown referred to as a “versatile defender,” is one of the leading success stories of the Sixers’ player development program. According to Brown, work ethic was an important factor that distinguished Sampson.
“I appreciate him and will help him, guide him in the next phase of his basketball life if he needs my opinion,” said Brown. “It’s a fluid, easy conversation, and he handled it like he should, and has to.”
Brown continued, “It’s always hard. I get close to my players. The players get close to each other. It’s a reminder for our young guys. Nobody’s apologetic. We understand that is what we have to do in order to grow our program, but it doesn’t diminish I think the unhappiness of not seeing him around.”
Sampson averaged 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game for the Sixers this season. He was held out of five of the team’s final eight contests before the All-Star Game break as a “Coach’s Decision.”
Both Brown and Sixers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie didn’t rule out the possibility of reacquiring Sampson, should the appropriate circumstances permit.
Sampson was formally placed on the NBA waiver wire at 5:00 PM EST on Friday, and will remain there until 5:00 PM EST on Sunday.
Next Up:
The Sixers’ brief two-game swing through the Southern United States comes to a close on Sunday, when they tip-off against the Dallas Mavericks (29-27) at 7:00 PM EST at American Airlines Center. Jockeying for playoff positioning in the competitive middle pack of the Western Conference, Dallas, which entered Friday as the West’s sixth seed, returned from the All-Star Game break Friday, and suffered a 110-104 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic. It was the Mavericks’ third straight overtime outing. The Mavericks endured an uneven stretch heading into their nine-day All-Star hiatus, dropping four out of five contests. Dirk Nowtizki, now in his 18th season, paces the Mavs, the only team he’s ever played for, with an average of 17.6 points in 31.0 minutes per game. This summer, tDallas signed veteran point guard Deron Williams to a two-year contract, bringing the three-time All-Star back to the area where he played his high school basketball. The Sixers and Mavericks met at The Center during the third week of the season. Dallas prevailed, 92-86.
