Over the course of a full-length, 82-game NBA regular season, specific junctures of the schedule occasionally arise that present the chance to further examine subtle but important subplots, ones that deserve closer looks. Such an opportunity presented itself Saturday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The 76ers – on the road – were playing a title hopeful for the second time in as many days. The night before, Jahlil Okafor, the team’s prized pick-up in the 2015 draft, had turned in the least productive offensive performance of his young career, still not even three weeks old. When it came to a rookie that, according to his head coach, can “score 20 points in his sleep,” a pertinent question was, “How might Okafor respond?”Before typing out Brett Brown’s thoughts on that question, it’s important to note the quality of competition the Duke product was going up against. First, versus Oklahoma City, it was Steven Adams, Nick Collison, Serge Ibaka, and Enes Kanter. Next, against San Antonio, it was a combination of LaMarcus Aldridge, Boris Diaw, Tim Duncan, and David West. A match-up with Duncan provided particular intrigue. Run a Google search of the phrase “Jahlil Okafor Tim Duncan,” and see what shows up. We’ll spare you the suspense. You’ll find lots and lots of results, many of which are articles, columns, or blogs that project Okafor to be the “Next Tim Duncan.” Even David Robinson, Duncan’s original frontcourt partner, compared Okafor to Duncan.So, returning to the first paragraph of this article, and the issue at hand. “How might Okafor respond?”Brown put the scenario in context before Saturday’s tip-off, saying, “You got a 19-year old kid in Jahlil Okafor that first is figuring out that [the NBA] is a recovery league, it’s a show me league. You got to back it up.”
“You play [the night before], and he’s getting the hell kicked out of him. And he’s used to moving college guys. And he ain’t moving them. And all of a sudden, this is a little bit different. And now you got to come in here, and you got Duncan, and West, and Aldridge, and Boris, and here we go again. It’s just water dripping on your forehand, and Jahlil is learning all this. You got to start somewhere, and it’s another great learning opportunity.
Okafor more than acquitted himself in his handling of these circumstances. He shook off his six-point outing against the Thunder, in which he converted only three of 18 field goal tries, to pour in a game-best 21 points at the expense of the Spurs. As he did over the course of his first nine outings, Okafor hit an array of shots, from close-range, mid-range, along the baseline, and at the free throw line. He finished nine of 17 from the field.
Furthermore, Okafor proved to be an impact presence late in the game. He knocked down four of his five attempts in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points in that period, and leading the Sixers on a 14-2 spurt that trimmed their deficit from 16 points to four points by the time there was 3:07 remaining in regulation.
“Every game is going to be different,” Okafor said. “We played a veteran team on back-to-back nights. I’m impressed with the way my entire team played after playing back-to-back. And not only that, but playing against one of the better teams in the league.”
Okafor, with 12 rebounds as well, notched his second double-double as a pro. Both have come in the Sixers’ last three contests. Saturday’s, though, was posted against Duncan and San Antonio.
“It’s a surreal feeling, [Duncan] being a guy that you idolized growing up” said Okafor about matching up with the 15-time All-Star, and two-time MVP. “We are in here in the locker room drawing up the game plan, and you see who’s guarding who, and you see Duncan, and you see my name, saying, ‘I’m going to be sticking with him.’ It was a weird feeling knowing that’s somebody I idolized.”
Okafor has heard plenty about Duncan from Brown, who helped coach Duncan for 12 seasons.
“He’s just a really good guy,” Okafor said about Duncan. “I already knew he was a great basketball player, and how great of a person he is. It was just really an honor to talk to him today, and he was really great about it, me being a big fan of his.”
Duncan didn’t do too poorly for a 39-year old in his 19th season, producing 15 points and four rebounds in 27 and a half minutes. The two will square off for a second and final time this year on Monday, December 7th at The Center.
