Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia 76ers
Game Recap: Raptors 108, 76ers 95
Snapshot: On a night when Brett Brown was aiming to see the 76ers (4-35) recapture their spirit, the team began its third meeting of the season with the Toronto Raptors (23-15) in strong fashion. Scoring the first 12 points of Saturday’s tilt at The Center, the Sixers had sights set on snapping out of a rut against their Atlantic Division rival. Toronto, though, found its stride not too long afterwards, and used a 32-point second quarter to power its way to an eventual 108-95 victory. The win was the Raptors’ 11th in a row over the Sixers.
Jahlil Okafor was a major factor in getting the Sixers going in the opening period. He poured in 10 of his 19 points in his first nine minutes of action, and also grabbed four boards during that stretch. As much Okafor ignited the Sixers in the first quarter, Ish Smith did the same in the third. With the Sixers trailing by 13 points, the sixth-year point guard stepped up, and pieced together a sequence in which he generated nine straight points for the team. In all, he dropped 18 points in the third quarter alone, and finished with a career-best 28 points. That total matches Robert Covington’s output from the Sixers’ November 27th game in Houston for the club’s top scoring performance of the season.
While the Sixers enjoyed an efficient performance from the perimeter, connecting on 11 of their 17 three-point attempts, the Raptors established a critical advantage from the free throw line. The visitors outdid their hosts by 15 made foul shots. They converted 54.7 of their field goals overall as well. Kyle Lowry produced a team-best 25 points (10-17 fg), on top of six rebounds, five assists, and two steals. DeMar DeRozan tallied 19 points, seven boards, and five assists.
Top Moment:
From the night he rejoined the Sixers on December 26th, Ish Smith has demonstrated an ability to have an invigorating effect. Saturday proved no different. Following a solid first half, in which he collected six points and handed out two assists, the 27-year old elevated his level of play to new heights in the third quarter, a juncture of the contest in which the Sixers were looking for a lift. Smith drained 18 of his career-best 28 points in the frame, hitting seven of his nine shots in the period. Smith added four more points in the fourth quarter, and finished with a higher scoring total than both DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, Toronto’s two All-Star guards. A highlight package featuring Smith is linked below:
http://www.csnphilly.com/basketball-philadelphia-76ers/highlights-ish-sm…
Brett Brown Said – On Jahlil Okafor’s contributions, and his defensive presence in the second half:
“I especially thought Jahlil was doing ok. I played Jah more extended minutes in that 3rd period. They only had 18 points. I thought it was a good defensive effort. I thought his surrounding cast guarded. That’s a good combination, when you can really play defense with Jah, and Jah play defense himself.”
Notes and Quotes:
After watching the Sixers surrender 126 points to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, Brett Brown spoke on Friday and also Saturday, before tip-off, about his hopes to see the Sixers reclaim some of their spirit. On the defensive end in particular, he and his coaching staff identified a pair of key priorities for the Sixers’ third tilt of the season versus Toronto.
“We have two points of emphasis: don’t foul, rebound,” said Brown. “Then I hope we don’t turn it over. It’s the only point we make on offense. I think that if we can just zoom in…in periods, at halftime, these are our points of emphasis, where are we? We’re doing it or we’re not.”
After 12 minutes of play, the Sixers were in good shape. They held a 26-25 lead on the scoreboard, and had at that point out-rebounded Toronto by three caroms. The Sixers had also limited the Raptors to three foul shots. Toronto entered the evening with the seventh-best rebounding margin in the NBA, and were averaging 25.4 free throws per contest, the fourth-highest such figure in the NBA.
At halftime, however, the dynamic was different. Toronto had surged ahead, 57-44, and held a plus-one rebounding margin over the Sixers. The Raptors had also outscored the Sixers by seven from the stripe. By the end of the game, Toronto had two more rebounds than the Sixers, and had deposited an additional 15 free throws on an extra 13 attempts from the line.
“They’re a good team,” Brown said. “They play good basketball, they’re well coached, and they have been together for a while now.
The Sixers did keep their turnovers down, committing only 13 giveaways. They made 22 miscues versus the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
Toronto seventh-year shooting guard DeMar DeRozan is bidding for the second All-Star Game selection of his career. The ninth pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, DeRozan came into Saturday’s contest ranked 11th in the NBA in scoring, averaging 22.6 points per game, and second in free throw attempted and made. He had notched a season-best 35 points on Friday in the Raptors’ nine-point victory at Washington.
Nik Stauskas, making his third consecutive start for the Sixers, was tasked with trying to contain DeRozan, who put up 39 total points in his first two meetings with the Sixers. Stauskas is no stranger to DeRozan.
“I would actually say that since I’ve been in the NBA, I would put him as one of the toughest people I’ve had to guard,” said Stauksas, now in his sophomore campaign. “Last year, when I was in Sacramento, our first two pre-season games were against Toronto. We played them once in Vancouver, and once in Sacramento. That was my first two games as a professional. I had to guard him both games. His combination of being able to post-up in the mid-range, being able to curl and attack the basket and get to the free-throw line, and then also being able to knock down that mid-range jumper consistently, it just makes him really tough to guard. Obviously, he’s a freak athlete too, so when he gets to the rim, he’s able to finish over people and take contact. That’s why he’s one of the best scorers, one of the best players we have in this league.”
DeRozan got going early, punching in 14 of his 19 points in the opening half. Kyle Lowry, his fellow All-Star backcourt partner, helped Toronto clinch its victory by depositing 10 points in the fourth quarter. The Cardinal Dougherty and Villanova product tallied 25 points in all.
For the second time this season, the Sixers and Philadelphia Flyers shared The Center on the same Saturday. The Flyers skated to a 4-0 shutout victory over the New York Islanders in a game that started just after 1:00 PM, and finished a few minutes past 3:30. About two and a half hours later, The Center’s seasoned, hard-working operations staff had managed to convert ice into hardwood, leaving the Sixers and Toronto with about 90 minutes to warm-up.
When playing in South Philadelphia, the Sixers typically hold a shoot-around three hours before tip-off. Knowing that on-court availability be limited on Saturday afternoon, the Sixers instead conducted their scout for Toronto on Friday, towards the end of a practice session held at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Aside from that adjustment, the Sixers also had about 30 minutes fewer minutes to go through pre-game drills. They made the most of the hour and a half that they ultimately had.
“There’s just more guys on the floor, really, but same kind of routine,” said Nik Stauskas about the Sixers’ pre-game regimen on Saturday. The squad’s players usually warm up in groups of three. On Saturday, there were, at times, a few extra bodies out there. “Same kind of warm-up, just more guys on the floor.”
The Sixers and Flyers will both play in The Center on the same day three more times in their respective campaigns, including next Saturday. The Flyers are scheduled to take on the New York Rangers at 1:00 PM. The Sixers then welcome the Portland Trail Blazers at 7:30 PM EST.
Next Up:
On Sunday at 6:00 PM EST at The Center, the Sixers complete their ninth set of back-to-back games this season, and also wrap up their four-game season series with the Cleveland Cavaliers (25-9). Cleveland, at full strength for the better part of the past three weeks, is in the midst of one of its strongest stretches of the campaign. Friday’s 26-point victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves marked their sixth in a row, and put the Cavaliers within one win of matching their longest surge of the season. The last time these two teams met, on December 20th, Cleveland’s All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving made his season debut, following nearly half a year’s worth of rehab from a left kneecap fracture. In eight outings since his return, Irving has generated 16.9 points and 3.8 assists in 24.6 minutes per game. This past Wednesday, when the Cavs opened their season-high six-game road trip in Washington, Irving went off for 32 points, knocking down 14 of his 22 field goal attempts. LeBron James ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring, with 25.5 points per contest. Kevin Love has so far collected 14 double-doubles. The Cavaliers currently hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
