Gala atmosphere in Philadelphia tonight. For the 60th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points, some members of the “Big Dipper” family were actually present at the Wells Fargo Center, to ring the traditional pre-game bell. It was then the turn of James Harden to ignite the room, for his very first introduction in front of his new public.
Under these conditions, it was almost impossible for the Knicks to come and spoil the party. And, even if it took them half time to get going, the Sixers managed to dispose (123-108) of their evening opponents, signing there a third success in as many confrontations, since the beginnings of the MVP 2018 in his new colors.
In front of his friend Meek Mill, a rapper from Philadelphia, and in an atmosphere sometimes worthy of the playoffs, James Harden (26 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) did not disappoint for his first home outing. As for Joel Embiid (27 points and 12 rebounds) and Tyrese Maxey (25 points), they were also very good at guiding Philly to victory.
And push New York at the same time, certainly led by the pair RJ Barrett (30 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists) – Julius Randle (24 points and 6 rebounds), but finally defeated for the sixth time in a row, because of a very bad second half…
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— The Harden – Maxey – Embiid trio does not weaken. Third match together, third victory and third time that James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid all finish at least 20 points scored (for 78 points in total). However, it was not all rosy all the time for this new “Big Three”, because Maxey and Embiid initially struggled in the first half, while Harden struggled to keep his team in contact. Then the tables turned after the break, with the Maxey-Embiid duo gaining in aggression, paint and 3-pts, as Harden tried to feed them balls.
— A decisive third quarter. Led 62-55 at the break, the Sixers returned from the locker room with much better intentions, in terms of aggressiveness. In particular Joel Embiid, frustrated with the New York defense in the first half, who quickly gained confidence with 3-point shots. The gap was thus gradually reduced and the winning baskets kept falling in, while Tyrese Maxey did not stop attacking the circle, with success. Even the bench of Philadelphia, although not at the party, managed to make a good figure in this quarter, thanks to Georges Niang…
— New York held one half. Before this disaster third quarter took place, the Knicks first showed a generally attractive face in the first period. Carried by a superb RJ Barrett-Julius Randle duo, Tom Thibodeau’s men thus took a lead of up to 16 points, taking advantage of the fairly tender defense of the Sixers to punish them, in the paint or at mid-distance. Aggressive, uninhibited and skilful, the New York franchise then fell back into its ways, because of its characteristic irregularity, on each side of the floor…
LES TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Tobias Harris. Not enough to jump to the ceiling, but the strong winger (14 points and 7 rebounds) seems to assimilate when he had to take responsibility in this “new look” Sixers team. In other words when Joel Embiid and James Harden are sitting on the bench, and Doc Rivers lets his winger take care of the scoring, with Tyrese Maxey. This is what happened at the start of the fourth quarter, when the Knicks tried to revive the suspense in the game. Thus, Harris (then Maxey) woke up their team with a few baskets and we finally saw “Tobi” being enterprising and aggressive in attack. A good omen for the future?
⛔ Evan Fournier et Alec Burks. 3 of 19 on shots, including 1 of 9 at 3-pts. Such were the cumulative statistics of the Fournier – Burks pair, catastrophic throughout the evening. Whether in the first or second half, the two New York players never found their rhythm in attack, despite some good shooting positions. Inevitably, RJ Barrett and Julius Randle had no choice but to struggle offensively, but there is no doubt that the support of their teammates would have changed a lot of things in this match. Especially since they were also bitten by the duo Harden – Maxey in defense.
⛔ Furkan Korkmaz and Paul Millsap. Between their missed shots and their lost balls accumulated over a short playing time, the two Sixers substitutes were clearly not up to the task offensively, to the point of getting a few whistles from the public. And especially since, defensively, they didn’t show much either. Together, Korkmaz and Millsap thus symbolized the failure of the “second unit” of Philadelphia, on the whole dominated by that of the Knicks (32 points, against 21) and which is moreover lost with each passage of Joel Embiid on the bench…
THE FOLLOWING
Philadelphia (38-23) : reception of Cleveland, on the night of Friday to Saturday (01:00).
New York (25-37) : trip to Phoenix, on the night of Friday to Saturday (04:00).
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