Game Recap: Behind Defense, Sixers Earn Victory in New Orleans

Snapshot:NEW ORLEANS, LA – The 76ers finally got it done on the road. For the first time in 24 tries dating back to last winter, Brett Brown's team posted a win outside of its South Philadelphia home. With their defense ratcheted up, the Sixers locked down in the second half of Thursday's meeting with the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center, pulling away for a 99-88 victory.Ersan Ilyasova, for a second straight game, topped his team with 23 points, a season-high. He supplied two pivotal baskets in crunch time, including a putaway 3-pointer from the corner as the shot clock was expiring.The clutch deposit made the score 98-84 with one minute, 23 seconds remaining, and all but sealed for the Sixers a triumph of elusive proportions. Joel Embiid pitched in with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals, and four blocks, while fellow rookie Dario Saric stepped up with key contributions down the stretch, finishing with 13 points and five boards.Afterwards, though, the head coach seemed to be most pleased with his group's showing defensively.The Sixers stymied New Orleans in the second stanza, outscoring the Pelicans 47-31. For the game, New Orleans shot a paltry 39.3 percent from the field, and the Sixers matched a season-low by yielding 33 baskets for a second straight game.”I think that we've been trending in that way,” Brown said, citing the Sixers' defense in recent narrow setbacks to Boston last Saturday, and Memphis on Tuesday “We just haven't had a win to validate it.”In addition to the “physical” brand of defense that the Sixers brought to the Big Easy Thursday, Brown was also encouraged to see his club grade out well in transition, and in respect to ball security. Those two areas represent Brown's primary points of emphasis at this stage of the season. Let's check out the numbers. The Sixers surrendered only 12 fastbreak points – they entered the evening giving up a league-high 18.2 fastbreak points per 100 possessions. Moving along to turnovers, the Sixers committed 10 in Thursday's bout, equaling their lowest total of the campaign. New Orleans gave the ball away only 12 times, but the differential in points scored off turnovers was staggering.The final tally stood at 24-4, Sixers. Their advantage was in the second half was 17-0.”If you play that type of transition defense, and have that few turnovers, the team is easier to point out,” said Brown. “Those stats collectively, along with 27 assists, showed that everybody played, and it was a true team effort.”Thanks in large part to the coverage supplied by Ilyasova and Saric, who took turns occupying the power forward spot, the Sixers kept Anthony Davis under wraps, relatively speaking. The three-time All-Star took the floor Thursday as the leading scorer in the NBA (36.1 ppg), but was limited to 26 points on 8 of 21 shooting. Davis sank only 3 of his 12 attempts after halftime. The Sixers' road win was their first since defeating the Magic, 96-87, in Orlando on January 20th of this year.Check back soon for a complete game recap.