Despite glaring issues, the Philadelphia 76ers advanced to 3-3 with a narrow victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
The Philadelphia 76ers‘ third win of the NBA season was far from resounding. The Charlotte Hornets hung around all night, even taking a lead into the fourth quarter. Ben Simmons was a non-factor and shooting was inconsistent throughout the roster.
Still, Brett Brown’s squad managed to pull out the victory behind some late-game heroics from J.J. Redick and Robert Covington.
Joel Embiid was his typical self, embracing contact and getting to the line at a high clip. With only three turnovers on the night, Embiid produced another impressive stat line, tallying 27 points and 14 rebounds while making two impressive blocks and altering several shots at the rim.
Simmons was not good, struggling to find rhythm on the offensive end. His inability (and unwillingness) to shoot was coupled with poor finishing around the rim, leading to 5/20 shooting from the field. He finished with more turnovers (four) than assists (three), to boot.
Brett Brown again leaned on T.J. McConnell in spurts, but there was some justification in the form of Kemba Walker. Charlotte’s dynamo isn’t a great matchup for Fultz or Covington, so allowing McConnell to spend brief spurts on the two-time All-Star makes sense.
After controlling the first half (by a slim margin), the second half proved much more challenging for the Sixers. With Simmons being ineffective, the offense stalled at times, allowing Charlotte to make runs and compete.
Walker was largely inefficient (11/31), but his shot-making still put tremendous stress on the Sixers’ defense. Miles Bridges and Devonte’ Graham provided a spark off the bench in the first half, but Jeremy Lamb and Cody Zeller were Walker’s primary sidekicks in the latter quarters.
For the most part, Redick regressed to the mean in this game. He shot just 4/12 from the field, but still made 3/8 from deep and hit an important three at the two-minute mark in the fourth, which gave the Sixers a 102-99 lead.
Covington would follow that up with another big three and some stellar defense, making the necessary plays to close out a Sixers win. This was not a great game for the anti-Covington crowd.
Markelle Fultz attempted a few jumpers and made some dazzling plays in transition, including a first-quarter spin move and a third-quarter breakaway dunk. With some extra point guard minutes under his belt, Fultz tallied 10 points, four rebounds and four assists with just one turnover.
Dario Saric got off to a quick start but was overwhelmingly quiet down the stretch. He ended the game with just 11 points on 4/9 shooting, with most of that production coming in the first half.
Brett Brown also made some changes to the second unit, relegating Amir Johnson to just six minutes. That meant extra run for Mike Muscala, who saw 17 minutes and, for the first time this season, playing time at the five.
The Sixers need to address their spacing issues and awful late-game execution, both of which have direct ties to Markelle Fultz’s evolving game.
If Fultz can shoot with confidence and consistency, the spacing gets better. If that happens, it also allows him to close games, giving the Sixers much-needed shot creation in crunch time. The 20-year-old still holds the key to unlocking the Sixers’ ceiling.