April 05, 2015
It’s a good thing that the entire basketball world is focused on Indianapolis (not “In The Annapolis,” Barkley!), because the Sixers are Charlotte Hornets played a pretty ugly NBA game that Charlotte won by a score of 92-91. It was so unaesthetically pleasing that that I didn’t even feel it warranted the normal longer recap. Don’t fear, though, because we’ll be back to your regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.
Just for tonight, I’m going to steal the (shortened) format that our great football writer uses to recap games. Here are seven awards from the game:
Six blocks for Jerian’s younger brother, who continues to contest literally everything around the basket. As an added bonus, he also channeled some of his February 3-point shooting and went 2-3 from beyond the arc. If Grant stays around and Brett Brown tries to experiment with him at the 3 alongside Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, that combination would have all of the shot-blocking.
On one play, Covington tried to feed the roll man on a side pick-and-roll. The defender — I believe it was P.J. Hairston — got a deflection and Covington quickly fired the shot once the ball fell back in his hands. He wasn’t gunning by any means, but Bobby Buckets has been empowered with the opportunity to take any sliver of daylight and fire away.
I’ll probably dive into this subject a little deeper at some point, but of all the players currently on the floor, Nerlens Noel seems like the only guy who is guaranteed to play in the rotation when the team becomes a contender (with the huge caveat of a possible trade, of course). If he makes up the first tier, I would say Covington and Grant are the next one by themselves. The Sixers’ two best players on the night are young, talented, and signed to team-friendly deals through the net three seasons.
Per Coach Brown, Nerlens Noel will not return to tonight's game (Cut above right eye).
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) April 5, 2015
It’s unclear if the rookie will play tomorrow.
The Sixers lost a couple of games late this week, and both times, a different former Philly prep star made a big shot at the end. First, it was Wayne Ellington with the Lakers and tonight, his buddy Gerald Henderson’s late layup gave the Hornets a victory. Before heading to rival schools on Tobacco Road, those two teamed up to lead Episcopal Academy to a 27-4 record as seniors. Here’s some highlights of them playing against Ty Lawson and Michael Beasley:
If you’re scoring at home, that is now three one-point losses and another overtime defeat in the team’s last seven games. That is literally the best of both worlds.
