Snapshot:”Energy and effort.” Talk to Brett Brown about the 76ers (3-31) for a bit, and it probably won’t take him too long to use those operative words in discussing the primary demands he sets for his team on a day-in, day-out basis.
On Wednesday at Sleep Train Arena, “energy” and “effort,” along with sound execution, proved to be decisive factors in favor of the Sixers in their 110-105 victory over the Sacramento Kings (12-20). Nerlens Noel and Ish Smith continued put their productive partnership to use, as Noel paced all members of his club with 20 points (8-12). He added nine rebounds and four steals as well. Smith, meanwhile, sunk 18 points (7-14 fg), and handed out nine assists (against one turnover). Jerami Grant proved to be a diverse difference-maker, tallying 16 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and five blocked shots. The double-double was Grant’s second of the season. Jahlil Okafor had the Sixers’ second double-double, notching 10 points and 10 boards. After trailing by one point going into the second quarter, the Sixers forced a 57-57 tie heading into halftime. The start of the third period proved to be a key turning point, as the Sixers pieced together a 16-4 run to establish their first double-figure lead of the contest. Sacramento clawed back to within two points with three minutes remaining in regulation, but Smith delivered a vital floater to give the Sixers enough breathing room to keep the Kings at bay. Top Moment:
Down by two possessions just past the mid-way point of the second quarter, the Sixers pieced together a sequence representative of some of the recent progress the team has displayed. First, the Sixers came up with a defensive stop, courtesy of one of Jerami Grant’s season-high-tying five blocks. Ish Smith, as he has done consistently since returning to the Sixers, then relied on his quickness to jump-start a fast break opportunity. The Sixers’ sprint down the floor ultimately culminated with a Nerlens Noel dunk, one of his six slams in the contest. http://www.csnphilly.com/basketball-philadelphia-76ers/highlights-grants-rejection-turns-noel-dunk?guid=i1XURrUSQoGuAAzyOvpAeRBe5zdfGdvd
Brett Brown Said – On the Sixers having picked up their second win in three games:
“They’re having a lot of fun. They put in a lot of work. We’ve taken a lot of hits and if there is such a thing as deserving to win, they deserve to win. They put in the work. They don’t blink. They don’t go away. They stay together. I’m proud of them. I think it’s jsut a real tribute to their perseverance to come away with a road win.”
Notes and Quotes:
Following the Sixers’ shoot-around at Sleep Train Arena Wednesday morning, Jahlil Okafor said one of the reasons he was so eager to return to the court was to get the chance to play alongside Ish Smith for the first time. The feeling sounded mutual, based on comments Smith made about the third overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft just before tip-off. “I think he’s the best rookie in the NBA,” said Smith without hesitation. “Anytime you got somebody like that on our team, it makes our offense, it makes our team so much better, so I’m excited about it.”Due to soreness in his right knee, Okafor watched the first two games of Smith’s second stint with the Sixers from the bench. During that time, Smith, in teaming with Nerlens Noel and Richaun Holmes, demonstrated his knack for elevating the production of big men. “I think we’ll quickly kind of build some chemistry,” Smith said. “Sometimes, as a point guard, it makes it easy when you’ve got somebody like [Okafor] on the block, where all you’ve got to do is give him the ball and get out of the way. and sometimes you’ve got to make his life easy. So it’s just kind of pick and choose, how he wants that chemistry, with him and throughout the whole team.”Okafor played in spurts off the bench, first checking into the game at the 5:17 mark of the opening quarter. He logged 20 minutes overall. His 10-point, 10-rebound double-double was the eighth of his rookie season. Five of those boards came via the offensive glass, and contributed to the Sixers’ 16-7 advantage in that statistical department.
As early as Tuesday, when the Sixers first began practicing in preparation for Sacramento, Brett Brown had an inkling he might need to rely on a smaller-than-usual sized line-up versus the Kings. “I think the way that they play, and how they distribute their minutes, dictates to me everything who should be on the floor match-up wise,” said Brown. “It seems like there’s going to be a lot of minutes of small ball, with Rudy [Gay] at a four [power forward position]. And so if that’s true, I’m going to divide the minutes up as the game unfolds with Nerlens [Noel] and Jahlil [Okafor]. Jah hasn’t played for a while, Nerlens has been playing well, so if it shakes out like that, you’d expect Nerlens to get a majority of those minutes.” The decision delivered major dividends, not just in respect to the outputs of Noel and Okafor, but also in terms of Jerami Grant’s production. He was tasked with going up against Gay, and outdid the veteran, who boasts eight additional years of NBA experience. Grant’s final stat line was highlighted by 16 points and 11 rebounds, helping him finish with a game-best plus/minus rating of 18. Gay, by comparison, managed just nine points (4-9 fg), and generated a game-worst plus/minus rating of -18.
In two outings against the Sixers a season ago, DeMarcus Cousins combined to churn out 72 total points and 41 total rebounds, numbers that only reinforced his dominant two-way capabilities. On the other hand, as Cousins again demonstrated in Sacramento’s 122-103 loss at Golden State Monday, he also possesses one of the most volatile tempers in the NBA. That night, he was ejected for confronting officials in the third quarter, marking the 10th time in his career that he’s been tossed, per ESPN. Disposition aside, Brett Brown admires the arsenal that the All-Star brings to the floor. “His talent is quite amazing,” Brown said of Cousins. “When you look at him, you just start with the physical qualities. He is a big mobile man, with a long wing span, and a mobility that you just can’t believe he has for a man of that size. And then you get into his skill package of pound, pound, jump-hook. Trail and three. Put it to the floor and make a play off a live ball. And so you look at the physical gifts, then you look at his actual skill package, and you walk away appreciating just how good he really is. Despite all the other stuff. When you look at that, you just have a lot of praise for him with his talents.”The early signs Wednesday pointed to Cousins being on his way to yet another explosve on-court performance. He tallied 11 points and four rebounds in the first quarter. The rest of the way, though, the Sixers made life difficult for him. He didn’t hit a single field goal following the opening period, putting up his final 10 points from the free throw line. Cousins had 21 points and 11 rebounds in all, while fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Next Up:
The Sixers enter the home stretch of their current six-game road trip, traveling to Southern California for a rare Los Angeles back-to-back set. The Sixers will first face the Lakers (6-27) on New Year’s Day at 10:30 PM EST, and then battle the Clippers the next night. The last time the Sixers played both Los Angeles-based NBA teams in same road trip was in 2001, when the-then-Larry-Brown-coached club faced the Lakers on December 25th, and the Clippers on December 26th. The Lakers will be back at Staples Center following a quick three-game East Coast swing, which they capped on Wednesday with a 112-104 win over the Boston Celtics. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak. After a rocky first month of his 20th and final season, Kobe Bryant has shown signs of relative progress. Averaging five fewer minutes a game in December, he boosted his scoring by nearly four points per outing, while enjoying a near 10.0 percent increase in field goal shooting percentage. Bryant, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds in Boston, deposited 20 points (7-26 fg) at The Center on December 1st, two days after he announced his retirement, and the same night the Sixers posted their first win of the season.
