The Sixer Sense
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Sixers Won’t Make Trouble, But Won’t Let Themselves be Stepped On

By Josh Wilson

Apr 10, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) and Philadelphia 76ers guard Gerald Henderson (12) are separated by referee Marat Kogut (32) after an altercation during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Pacers won 120-111. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) and Philadelphia 76ers guard Gerald Henderson (12) are separated by referee Marat Kogut (32) after an altercation during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Pacers won 120-111. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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 The Philadelphia 76ers were nearly involved in a big scuffle against the Indiana Pacers, but avoided the issue. Gerald Henderson didn’t back down from Paul George.

The Philadelphia 76ers season, for the most part, is over. Going into Monday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers, the Sixers had two remaining games, with their Monday night game being their last one at home in the Wells Fargo Center.

Even though playoffs weren’t even in the picture at all, the Sixers still wanted to defend their home court against Paul George and the streaking Pacers.

During the fourth quarter, Paul George and Gerald Henderson got tangled up and ended up on the floor, in what appeared to be Henderson pulling George down. George extended his hand towards Henderson in a bit of a punching motion as he was on the floor, and both players were assessed technical fouls.

George claimed he was confused as to why he got a technical in the situation, but his reaction of reaching towards Henderson certainly warranted one.

Just a few minutes later, Henderson was cutting with the ball, and began to fall. As he came back up and brought his hand and arm up from the ground, his elbow struck George in the neck. Some viewed the elbow as intentional, others viewed the elbow as unintentional. It ended up in a flagrant two for Henderson (an automatic ejection) and a second technical for George, which also results in an automatic ejection.

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At this point, there were only about two minutes left in the game, but the Sixers at one point did look like there was a chance they could come back with George out of the question.

The Sixers are one of the cooler teams in the NBA. It is quite rare that this team gets involved in scuffles like some other teams in the NBA do, and the one we saw on Monday night was rare. Even on Monday, the scuffle was mainly Sixers players trying to diffuse the situation and play ball. Many of the Pacers players did the same.

The Sixers not getting involved in these altercations seems to imply that they either play a clean style of ball, or that they can’t stand up for themselves. Clearly, as proven Monday night, they can stand up for themselves, and will if they have to.

Paul George is one of the most respected players in the NBA because of how talented he is, but Henderson wasn’t going to let him walk all over him because of that. Now, any intentional physical action from Henderson probably wasn’t the best idea, but some of this looked unintentional, or as if it wasn’t all Henderson.

Some viewed this as a bad example from Henderson, who is supposed to be the veteran presence. But I think, in a way, it can speak a positive to the younger players — don’t let other players step on you just because you haven’t proven yourself as much as them in the NBA yet.

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And, let’s be honest. If the Sixers were to get into a big Malice at the Palace-like brawl, they would destroy almost all of their opponents. Let’s hope the Sixers continue to play clean ball from here on out, though.