Philadelphia 76ers Robert Covington Kemba Killer, oh what a night!

Mr. 3-and-D Covington, thank you

For 35 minutes, Hornets point guard Kemba Walker could only manufacture five points on 1-9 shooting from the floor and an 0-5 night from three-point range. Even Kemba’s free throws came in at 3-6 for 50 percent. A player averaging 23.0 points, 38.6 percent from the perimeter and 84.3 percent on free throws could only get five points.

That isn’t just a random bad performance for Kemba Walker. His track record has down nights, but on this evening, he fell into a hole and never quite climbed out. And on a night where the Philadelphia 76ers were vulnerable, Covington’s defense was impervious.

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Unsung invisible stats

That doesn’t show up on Robert Covington’s stat sheets. In fact, in the NBA, the entire defensive performance of any player is more subjective than statistically objective based. But the stats did show some of the defensive dominance of Covington in this one. We know that Covington did generate two steals and two blocks.

But if you saw the game, you could see the constant proximity of Covington to Kemba. He stuck to him like a shadow. And the results on defense propelled Covington on the offensive side of the court. The optics of Covington’s defense stood out on a night when offense took center stage.