January 15, 2019
Philadelphia's matchup with the Timberwolves was billed as the return of Robert Covington and Dario Saric, on top of a battle between Jimmy Butler and the organization he roasted at his last stop. But it quickly devolved into something else — an absolute demolition for the Sixers, who have to feel good about blowing Minnesota out by a final score of 149-107.
This one was never close, and it wasn't because Butler came out and torched his old mates. Here's what I saw at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night.
• The Sixers could have easily let this devolve into Jimmy Butler vs. the Wolves early in the game. Hell, Butler could have easily done that on his own, hijacking the offense with iso's in an attempt to prove he was ready for his former team.
Philadelphia did a good job of avoiding that trap. Butler kept the ball moving, hooking up Wilson Chandler and Jonah Bolden on a pair of wide open corner threes in the opening quarter. What was even better about those plays — they actually made the damn shots.
Really, this is what Brett Brown's offense has always been about, chasing great shots for the team and not the individual. The Sixers haven't always done that since Butler arrived, as everyone tries to adjust to the reality of a star-laden team. So it was encouraging to see Butler and the Sixers settle into this groove against this specific opponent, and maybe it bodes well for the weeks and games to come.
• Another note on Butler — he and Embiid got some extended run in the first half without Simmons on the floor. This has happened in small chunks, but it was a changeup from Brett Brown.
What was more surprising was how the team ran in this setup. That's the combination that theoretically could produce a ton of pick-and-rolls, but Brown stuck to his guns and the majority of the offense appeared to be run out of their traditional dribble handoffs.
Is that a blip, a sign of buy-in from Butler, or something that will change moving forward? I don't know. But Butler was the perfect third guy in this one, and it's no surprise the Sixers ran the Wolves out of the gym.
• We had a legitimate heat check from Wilson Chandler in the first quarter, and it felt deserved. That is certainly a good sign for this team, which needs as much help from its bench as it can get.
• In an interesting wrinkle, Brett Brown turned to Jonah Bolden as the first big off of the bench on Tuesday night. With Mike Muscala swinging back and forth between lukewarm and surface-of-Antarctica cold over the last few weeks, I thought it was a good thought, especially against a team with athletic bigs like Minnesota.
The more the Sixers can get Bolden on the floor against competent teams, the better. We're already starting to learn a little bit about the combinations he succeeds with. One example: Bolden seems to have a good thing going with T.J. McConnell, who always seems to time passes perfectly and free Bolden up for a wide-open dunk or layup.
Philadelphia is still in the fact-finding portion of the Jonah Bolden development cycle. The more they can learn about him, the better, especially when he's blocking shots from opposing point guards so badly he's making them look like small children.
• I had arguments with people on these internet streets that Joel Embiid had more upside than Karl-Anthony Towns, back when people still treated Embiid like an idea more than they did a basketball player. The gap on defense was treated as a narrow strait, rather than the Atlantic Ocean that it is.
To be clear, I think Towns is a very talented basketball player. But watch the work these two on defense and it's not even close. Embiid calls out missed assignments, cuts off open drives, and challenges or blocks shots he has no business being near. The Timberwolves play a different scheme, and Towns can hold his own in one-on-one battles, but put him in space and ask him to make multiple reads and he's toast.
That fact was on display in the box score, on the scoreboard, and on the tape. Embiid can tilt the game on both ends of the floor, and he did. Towns has tremendous offensive gifts, but as he has against several other big men, Embiid proved yet again who really brings the ruckus.
• McConnell had a rough stretch on defense for a few weeks there, but seems to have found his groove again recently. Perhaps that's because of the aforementioned lineup combinations, or maybe it's just a smart player finding a way to make things work. In any case, he's clearly feeling himself, and he gave his pal Dario Saric the business midway through the third.
TJ McConnell gave his former teammate a love tap after scoring on him 😂 pic.twitter.com/7fug6S0WAM
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 16, 2019
This upturn for McConnell couldn't have come at a better time. The Sixers need their backups for this gauntlet stretch they're about to be on, and they certainly need their most battle-tested backup.
• Speaking of players who are in a good place, Ben Simmons has been an absolute force of nature lately. There have still been a few too many careless turnovers for my liking, and the questions linger about whether he can make it happen against good defensive teams, but he has flat-out dominated games over the last week-and-a-half.
There's not a specific area where I've felt Simmons has stood out, and instead, it's his overwhelming physicality that has impressed. Simmons has always had it in him to physically take over games, and he's delivering on it, taking it to another level since calling out Philadelphia's "soft" performance against the Atlanta Hawks.
When he's using his body to pull down rebounds and create separation in traffic, rather than shying away from contact, he's a completely different player. Success at the free-throw line came along with that edge — Simmons knocked down 6-of-7 attempts from the charity stripe, which may be his coach's favorite statistic in a game where he put up 20 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, and three blocks.
Everything is in reach for this kid if he continues building on what's already there.
• Corey Brewer had the time of his damn life out there in garbage time. He has seen it all at the NBA level, and he still had a big smile on his face. A+.
• It's a little tough to write bad things when a team scores 83 freaking points in a half and gets to play the bench for the entire fourth quarter. That was an ass-kicking.
• Minnesota's defense. Boy, are they missing an impact defender on the wing. Someone like, say, Robert Covington.
(Butler may be an A-hole, but maybe he's also right about the fortitude of these young Wolves.)
• Tyus Jones had an ugly ankle roll late in the third quarter with the Sixers already up 32 points. You never want to see a player get hurt, and you especially hate to see it in a game where the outcome has basically been decided.
• Throwing Jerryd Bayless into the video tribute for Dario Saric and Robert Covington. You could not tell the story of this team's rebuild without Saric and Covington, and their reception upon coming back to Philadelphia was well-deserved.
I'm pretty sure you can tell it without mentioning Bayless, unless you're bringing him up to roast Bryan Colangelo. I get why they had to throw him in there, but Saric and Covington deserved their own moment. And the fans booed him anyway, so it defeated the purpose of tossing him in there with the beloved former Sixers.
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