Some thoughts and observations left over from the 76ers’ most recent game, a 130-116 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday at Amway Center. To best access this content on a mobile device, select the “view in browser” option.
A bright spot for the Sixers on an otherwise difficult Sunday night in Orlando was Jerami Grant. In the team’s 14-point loss, he relied on his interior strength to churn out 13 points, get to the free throw line eight times, snag a Sixers-best eight rebounds, and turn aside five blocked shots. The performance was yet another one validating Brett Brown’s belief that the versatile second-year Syracuse product could very well be a “keeper,” the label the head coach attaches to prospects with the potential for long-term staying power. Below are some select highlights from Grant’s game at Amway Center.One subtle wrinkle to Grant’s usage Sunday night was that he occasionally appeared at small forward. Brown mentioned before the game that he’s been meaning to give Grant, typically a power forward, more chances to assume duties at the “three” spot. The logic behind Brown’s thinking is that next season, with center Joel Embiid and forward Dario Saric possibly in the mix, the Sixers will have to incorporate new bodies into their frontcourt rotation. With flu like symptoms sidelining Hollis Thompson on Sunday, Brown, needing depth on the wing, thought the timing was right to experiment with Grant. Grant played a team-high 38 minutes in Orlando. During the first half, he logged a little more than six minutes at small forward, doing so in two separate stints. He moved to the position for the final two and a half minutes of the first quarter, and then for the middle stages of the second. After intermission, he was back at power forward, primarily. “There’s big differences,” Grant said Sunday about the responsibilities of small and power forward. “It’s completely different position playing at the three. You’re definitely on the wing more. You get to come off ball screens, and come around shots. At the four, it’s more moving the ball, trying to set screens, and getting open.” All four field goals that Grant deposited against the Magic came while he was at power forward. In those segments of the first half that he moved to small forward, he registered one point from the free throw line, hauled in a rebound, and rejected a shot. He also attempted a three-pointer. For Grant, a slight twist to his on-court assignments won’t affect his mindset.”I don’t think it really matters what position I’m playing as long as I’m out there trying to help my team,” he said.Compared to his rookie season, Grant’s numbers are up across the board. On a per-36 minute basis, he’s increased his scoring by 2.8 points, rebounding by 1.6 boards, and blocks by 0.6 swats. Additionally, he’s shooting 43.6 percent from the field, after converting 35.2 percent of his attempts last year. His free throw percentage has jumped from 59.1 to 68.4 as well. Grant ranks second on the Sixers with 51 dunks, and is 11th in the NBA with 93 blocks. “I think I’m [doing] ok,” said Grant, reflecting on the 57 games he’s played this season. “Still developing. Still got a lot to work on. It’s going to be a big summer for me.”
Having already suited up in 53 outings, Jahlil Okafor has shown no signs of slowing down with the home stretch of his rookie season now underway. In fact, Brett Brown believes just the opposite is occurring, as a result of the center’s commitment to fitness.”His body’s the best it’s ever been,” Brown said on Sunday. “When you look at his weight, when you look at his skin fold, when you look at his metrics to his body fat, his body composition, it’s the best it’s ever been. Those are facts, and he’s worked to do that. He came back from All-Star break lean. And I respect that. He feels good about himself.”Brown has observed several positive outcomes from Okafor’s conditioning, and how it has trickled down to other aspects of the Duke product’s game. “I’m seeing more trips in transition defense that are faster,” said Brown. “I’m seeing more half-court possessions where he’s not hugged up on a weak side and getting over to the ball side a little bit sooner. I see a little bit more consistent voice in pick-and-roll defense, where he’s giving some instruction to the person who’s about to get hit with a pick and roll. I see everything happen a little bit quicker, a little bit longer, a little bit more consistently. We can’t forget he was going to be a sophomore in college.” To get in better shape, Okafor credits “just changing my diet,” and also the demands of the NBA regular season schedule. “We’re just playing a lot of games, so I’m burning a lot of calories,” he said. Okafor added that he took it upon himself to alter old habits. “I just know what’s good for me to eat. Junk food is obviously something to stay away from, fast food. Just have to be disciplined.”The toughest thing he’s had to scale back on? “Probably just Oreos,” said Okafor, who jokingly copped to having a “problem eating a ton” of the cookies. But, “I can still sneak some in.”For the record, Okafor is a traditional black-and-white, double-stuffed Oreo man. On Sunday, Okafor delivered his 23rd 20-point showing of the season, posting 23 points at Orlando. He’s now averaging 20.3 points in 26.6 minutes per game since the All-Star break, while hitting 63.4 percent of his field goal attempts amidst this same stretch. Rebounding remains a focus, as he’s accounted for 4.3 boards per contest on the heels of the Sixers’ lay-off that ended a week and a half ago.
In a few rare instances this season, the Sixers’ near-upset of the Golden State Warriors being one of them, Brett Brown has run out a three-guard backcourt configuration featuring T.J. McConnell, Ish Smith, and Isaiah Canaan. McConnell is listed at 6’2″ tall, while Smith and Canaan both stand at 6’0″ tall. Sunday at Amway Center, the smaller-sized trio briefly resurfaced in the second quarter, and then for a productive, extensive segment of the third period after McConnell checked in with four minutes, 40 seconds to go in the frame. The group was responsible for cranking out the bulk of a 21-7 spurt that trimmed the Sixers’ 29-point deficit to 15 points. Highlights from this stretch can be found below.”You look at the group that sort of got us going,” said Brown in his post-game media session. “You look up at the scoreboard at one point and we’re down 29 points. And then with three minutes left [in the fourth quarter], you’re down eight. That’s a massive swing.””The group that sort of tipped it and got us going again was unlikely suspects in T.J. and Isaiah and Ish and Jerami [Grant] and Richaun [Holmes].”McConnell, Smith, and Canaan combined for six points and four assists during the four minute, 40 second closing chunk of the third quarter. For the game, they played a total of eight minutes together. While the three were simultaneously on the floor, the Sixers scored 20 points.
