January 12, 2024
With Joel Embiid sidelined for the third straight game -- his seventh absence in the team's last nine contests -- the Sixers returned home, looking to notch a win against the Sacramento Kings in a nationally televised game Friday night. The short-handed Sixers -- also playing without Kelly Oubre Jr. and Robert Covington -- snapped their three-game losing streak, winning by a score of 112-93.
Harris scored at least 30 points for just the second time this season in Wednesday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks, and he carried the momentum from that performance into the early stages of this game -- on both ends of the floor.
Harris scored 14 first quarter points, on two successful and-ones, a mid-range jumper off the dribble, a nifty post-up move and two additional pairs of free throws. It was the best he has looked going downhill towards the rim in quite some time, as he was able to get to his spots in aggressive fashion. He kept it going in the second quarter with a triple and a wide variety of buckets. He entered intermission with 23 points, three rebounds and two assists on 8-12 shooting from the field (1-1 from deep, 6-6 from the free throw line) and finished with 37 overall.
On the defensive end, meanwhile, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse got creative with Embiid's absence and gave Harris the assignment of checking Sacramento's star center, Domantas Sabonis. Despite being considerably shorter and smaller than the All-Star big-man, Harris was able to use his strength to hang in there and keep Sabonis in check. Sabonis did not even take a shot in the first quarter, and Harris stripped him in the low-post to force a turnover twice. This was the best half of basketball that Harris has played all season long.
Bamba has not been able to take the bull by the horns in his sparing minutes so far this season outside of one game in which he almost led an upset victory in Boston at the beginning of last month. But he thrived in this one, particularly in the first half. He swatted three shots, grabbed a steal, pulled a pair of rebounds and knocked down a three. He made all of the necessary hustle plays on top of that, and was frequently animated while doing so.
The Sixers hope that Bamba is never relied upon for consistent action, because it means Embiid is unavailable. But the harsh reality is that the Sixers' third center spot is more important than that of any other team. In this one, Bamba showed the value of interior depth.
Beverley's offense was so poor in the early stages of this season that it was fair to ask if he was long for his spot in the rotation. But over the last several weeks he has rapidly improved, from becoming a more capable spot-up shooter to now adding some off-the-dribble scoring to his game. He has a reliable floater that he likes to get to, often freeing it up with a series of crafty ball-fakes. He scored four points, dished out four assists and grabbed four rebounds in the first half of this one.
Upgrading from Beverley once seemed like the most obvious way to improve this team's depth. But at this point, it may be unnecessary. Beverley's newfound offensive abilities on top off his well-known defensive exploits make him a wonderful role player.
Batum has had a successful tenure as a Sixer thanks to his ability to do all of the little things well. He plays good defense and does it across several positions. He is a quick decision-maker and wise passer who excels at getting the ball into the post successfully. He has a quick release on his three-point shot. All of this coalesces into him being a fantastic, albeit sometimes quiet, role player.
In this one, Batum also did all of the "bigger" things well. The third quarter had barely started by the time he already had 14 points on a perfect shooting line -- he made all five of his field goal attempts, and four of them came from beyond the arc. He occasionally fades into the background because he is not at all a ball-dominant player, but this game was a prime example of his capabilities.
The biggest reason the Sixers controlled this game for its entirety was their team defense. Against a high-powered Sacramento offense, they did exactly what they needed to do to limit Sabonis, All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox and scoring extraordinaire Malik Monk.
Those three players -- three of the team's four leading scorers on a per-game basis this season -- had a lot of trouble getting to their spots, ended up settling for many contested looks and were visibly uncomfortable for much of the night. This was one of the Sixers' best defensive showings of the season to date, and they did it without one of the game's greatest interior defenders and rim protectors.
