March 10, 2024
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
During a chaotic period for the Sixers, one thing has remained reliable: Kelly Oubre Jr.'s ability to drive to the rim with extreme aggression.
The Sixers visited the world's most famous arena on Sunday night for the first of two straight matchups against the New York Knicks, looking to avoid suffering four losses in a row. However, the Sixers remained without several key pieces, with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey being the most noteworthy. Both teams were missing important parts of their rosters, and the scoreboard reflected that. But the Sixers came away with a massive win, 79-73.
Here is what jumped out from the upset victory:
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has continued to tinker with his starting lineup over the course of the last few weeks. His latest change: moving sharpshooter Buddy Hield to the bench. Hield, who spent most of the season as a reserve for the Indiana Pacers, had started in every one of his appearances as a Sixer until Sunday night. Hield, Nic Batum and Paul Reed all came off the bench, with Cam Payne and Kelly Oubre Jr. starting in between Kyle Lowry, Tobias Harris and Mo Bamba.
Hield has dealt with significant struggles lately, shooting just 32.9 percent from the field over the team's last seven games. In his pregame media availability, before the lineup change was announced, Nurse affirmed that he has faith in one of the game's best three-point shooters.
Buddy Hield is shooting just 32.9 percent from the field over his last seven games. I asked Nick Nurse earlier this evening about his recent struggles, and Nurse didn't sound too concerned.
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) March 10, 2024
Full Q&A: pic.twitter.com/xOVEQCJqxD
Ironically, Hield had his best game in quite a while, despite an injury scare in the fourth quarter. He was the only Sixer who had things going on offense, and his shot-making made a massive difference in a game where each team was starving for offense.
In the year 2024, whether or not a player is a "starter" is not nearly as meaningful as how many minutes they play, who they play alongside, and how their skills are utilized. Of course, players' egos need to be managed, and like most teams, the Sixers do have players who would prefer to be part of the starting five. But regardless of whether he opens the game on the floor or on the bench, Hield and his dynamic shot-making ability will keep him firmly in the rotation.
Nurse is back to giving Bamba starting looks and bringing Reed off the bench. For a brief period, it seemed as if this was the proper alignment. Reed has played his best basketball as a reserve, and Bamba was putting in decent work in limited minutes. But as the starts have piled up, Bamba has struggled mightily. His defense is volatile, his offensive value is close to nonexistent and the Sixers do not rebound the bell well when he mans the middle.
With Embiid sidelined and no other traditional bigs on the roster, Nurse has to choose between playing Bamba and giving center minutes to bigger wings, like Harris, Batum and KJ Martin. While Nurse is very willing to make radical changes on the fly based on the opponent, he seems inclined to keep Bamba in the rotation for now. But it is extremely difficult to justify entrusting Bamba with any sort of significant role. Even if he does start, Reed does not just need to play more minutes than Bamba, but it needs to be a rather large discrepancy.
Despite a rather brutal offensive performance from start to finish, the Sixers were able to ride the Knicks' equally troubling scoring to a narrow victory. It most certainly was not pretty, but the Sixers made just enough plays down the stretch. From the surprising offense of Reed – including a clutch corner triple – to Oubre's constant rim pressure, to heady play after heady play from Batum and some major moments from Lowry, the Sixers were able to, in the words of Nurse, "pick off" a victory and avoid losing their fourth consecutive game.
