Some thoughts and observations left over from the 76ers’ most recent game, a 130-99 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday at Staples Center.
Over the past four-plus years, the Los Angeles Clippers have compiled the third-best regular season record among all 30 NBA franchises. The only two teams that have posted more victories than the Clippers since the start of the 2011-2012 campaign? The San Antonio Spurs (254-93), and the Oklahoma City Thunder (235-112). The Clippers’ success during this stretch can, in part, help explain the current stranglehold they’ve seized in their rivalry series with the Sixers. Not only have the Sixers fallen in each of their past eight meetings versus Los Angeles, the last three contests between the squads have been determined by an average margin of 29.3 points. Before Saturday’s collision at Staples Center, Brett Brown gave his thoughts on why the Clippers have been such a challenging opponent for the Sixers, and his explanation began by singling out his counterpart.”I’ve got just a tremendous amount of respect for Doc [Rivers],” said Brown. “He’s always somebody I’ve paid attention to from afar watching him coach. And the team he’s assembled, I’ve coached against Chris Paul in Olympic Games. I’ve coached him in All-Star Games, and I’m always blown away at, he is one of those alpha dogs, that his personality, swagger, and talent, and toughness all stand out. You step back and you’re just sort of blown away at the package, his competitiveness, and so you take that coach, and you take that point guard, and you put them in the same team, and you just have great respect for their program. They’ve found a way to respond without Blake [Griffin], and they’re playing good basketball.”Los Angeles has indeed found a way to string together its best run to-date without its five-time All-Star power forward, collecting a season-best six consecutive wins, the last five of which have come without Griffin. He’ll likely be on the shelf for another two weeks after hurting his left quadricep in a Christmas Day match-up with the Lakers. Several members of the Clippers spoke highlighly of the Sixers following Saturday’s 130-99 outcome that favored the home team. “I was worried about the game because we just came off a five-game road trip,” said Rivers. “In [the Sixers’] defense, they’re on their last game of a road trip, so both teams had to deal with that. They played hard. Brett [Brown] is a tremendous coach. Watching them compete early on, they just want a chance to win a game, and you can see it.””[The Sixers] play really hard,” J.J. Redick said. “They kind of make you adjust to them a little bit with their length, and their unorthodox line-ups. They just have not figured out how to win yet. It is a hard thing to do in the NBA. It is a hard thing to figure out how to win.”After a relatively quiet first half, Redick teed off for 11 of his 16 points in the second half. Like Sixers’ first-year center Jahlil Okafor, Redick spent his collegiate career at Duke University. “There is a really high skill level there,” said Redick in reference to Okafor, who put up a Sixers-best 23 points on Saturday. “He is a unique talent, going to play a long time in this league, and he is going to win a lot of accolades. He is a big guy who you can give the ball to and can score, and if he remembers that, he is going to be fine.”Even with the Sixers being dealt a defeat by Los Angeles on Saturday, Okafor chose to focus on big picture themes that he noticed amidst the club’s now-completed six-game trek. “We have a little swagger now that we won a few games,” Okafor said, pointing to victories in Phoenix and Sacramento. “We won two on this road trip, and we have Ish Smith here, who brought a new piece to this team, and we are all excited about it.”
When the Sixers step back onto the hardwood at The Center on Monday, Ish Smith will have his first opportunity to play in front of the home crowd since last April, when he concluded his initial stint with the team. In just six NBA seasons, Smith has already suited up for nine organizations, and has been included in 19 different transactions. The most recent move Smith was part of came December 24th, when the Sixers sent a pair of future second-round picks to New Orleans in exchange for the point guard. At that time, the Pelicans were preparing for a road outing in Miami. Instead, Smith hopped a plane to meet the Sixers in Phoenix. He’s gotten used to being a man on the move. “I was there last year, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for the most part,” Smith said of figuring out how to get his life settled upon the Sixers’ return to Philadelphia. Throughout his career, he’s relied on a go-to strategy to help him adjust on the fly. “Rented furniture, or fully furnished places,” said Smith. “I did that anyway because you’re only in the city for about six months. I never prepared to be like, ‘I’m going to be traded.’ I never thought like that. I just did it anyway just in case a quick something happened, and you’d be prepared.”The only substantial material item that Smith needs to transport to Philadelphia is his Jeep. With the Sixers beginning a season-high six-game homestand versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, he feels the timing is right to get reacquainted with a city he got a taste of last year. “It’s big. It’s a big city,” Smith said. “If you want to get into something, go out, date night, or hang out with your friends, or if you want to get away, you can do that. People don’t really bother you. For the most part, it’s chill.”
With several of the Sixers’ recent opponents using small-ball, speed-oriented line-ups, T.J. McConnell emerged as the first point guard to sub in for Ish Smith versus the Kings, Lakers, and Clippers. Over the course of that three-pack of games, he logged at least 15 minutes in each contest, and combined to generate 19 assists against seven turnovers. The undrafted rookie free agent feels that a different mindset is needed when assuming a reserve role. McConnell said, “Yeah, beacause you don’t know when you’re going back in, so you have to be ready at all times, and just stay focused. You can just be messing around on the bench, and then when you get thrown in there, you’re like a deer in headlights. You just have to be ready at all times.”McConnell has started 16 games this season, including 13 of the Sixers’ first 16 contests. He’s posted a minimum of seven helpers in consecutive appearances for the first time since handing out 12 assists in both the third and fourth games of his young career. “I’ve enjoyed myself on the West Coast, but it will be good to get back home,” said the University of Arizona alum
