PLAYER GRADES: Philadelphia 76ers 117, New York Knicks 91
By Jack Duffy
The Philadelphia 76ers easily beat a young and struggling New York Knicks squad tonight at The Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers’ key players received extra rest tonight due to the blowout victory.
Tonight’s huge 26 point win for the Philadelphia 76ers over the New York Knicks made for short(er) nights for Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, and Jimmy Butler. The Sixers’ key players only had to play through the end of the third quarter and a smidge in the fourth to get an early exit.
I was scared the Sixers were going to blow a lead again but they held onto it thanks mostly to their stellar defense. New York shot awful from the field at 34.8 percent and 6-29 from three. The Knicks could not get many open looks all night and were forced to take long twos, and contested threes and layups amidst a crowd of Sixers.
The new starting lineup looks to be more comfortable with each other and it helped to play a 16 loss team.
Here are some player grades from tonight’s game followed by a quarter-by-quarter recap:
<strong>26 mins | 24 pts | 2 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 10-14 FG | 4-6 3PT| 0-0 FT | 1 PF | +26| </strong><p>J.J. Redick came out of the gates guns firing, shooting the ball every time he got it. He started the game making nine out of his first ten shots which helped give the Sixers their 20-30 point lead which they kept for the rest of the game.</p><p>J.J. and Joel used the pick and roll to dismantle a porous Knicks’ defense. After J.J made a few off the screen he slipped the ball to Embiid who had an open path to the rim. J.J. made his usual shots, none of which were standing jumpers, they all were him flying off screens or fading away from defenders. Father time seems to not have caught up to J.J. yet.</p>. SG. Philadelphia 76ers. J.J. REDICK. A+
Here are the highlights form J.J’s game tonight.
A. <strong>30 mins | 26 pts | 14 reb | 7 ast | 1 stl | 1 blk | 1 TO | 10-21 FG | 0-3 3PT| 6-8 FT | 1 PF | +25|</strong><p>Seeing Joel Embiid against most other big men in the NBA just doesn’t seem fair. <a rel=. C. Philadelphia 76ers. JOEL EMBIID
A. <strong>24 mins | 14 pts | 8 reb | 7 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 2 TO | 5-9 FG | 0-0 3PT| 4-7 FT | 3 PF | +8|</strong><p>Tonight Ben Simmons put on a passing clinic. He made multiple beautiful wrap-around passes to <a rel=. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS
WILSON CHANDLER. B. <strong>26 mins | 8 pts | 6 reb | 4 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 3-6 FG | 2-_33PT| 0-0 FT | 1 PF | +10|</strong><p><a rel=. F. Philadelphia 76ers
B. <strong>25 mins | 10 pts | 8 reb | 1 ast | 0 stl | 1 blk | 2 TO | 4-6 FG | 2-3 3PT| 0-0 FT | 5 PF | +13|</strong><p>Mike Muscala continued to show his worth tonight in being capable of being a three and paint protector guy. His defender had to be on him at all times in case he unloaded from beyond the arc, which he did twice, and had to box him out due to Moose’s aggressive rebounding.</p><p>On the defensive end tonight, Muscala had an incredible block that he pinned to the glass that resulted in the crowd at The Center yelling “MOOOOOOOSSSSSSEEEEEEE!!!”. He has become an energy guy off the bench that the crowd loves which is huge, especially in Philly.</p>. C. Philadelphia 76ers. MIKE MUSCALA
No one would have thought the game would have started with a shootout between Mario Henzonja and J.J Redick, who both started the first five minutes with 10 and nine points respectively. J.J was the story of the first quarter. He totaled 14 points on 6/6 shooting. When the defense would overreact on the J.J- Joel Embiid DHO, Redick dished it to Embiid a few times for easy looks.
Ben Simmons did well driving to the basket in the first quarter and finding open teammates. Ben was open on a cut to the basket three times but his teammates did not get the ball out fast enough. Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala also started the game off with a few early make each.
Joel Embiid took advantage of the spotty defense from the Knicks’ centers. Enes Kanter is a poor post defender and Embiid had himself a field day taking him into the post to score easy buckets. Mitchell Robinson fouled out in the Knicks previous game in 17 minutes and tonight it only took him three minutes to obtain three fouls. Noah Vonleh also committed his third foul less than three minutes into the second quarter. Embiid had an easy 17 points along with seven rebounds and six assists.
Jimmy Butler did not get much offensive action in the first half even with the team being up by 20. I would have liked to see Jimmy get designed plays called for him. I understand he is adjusting to a new team but when you are up by 20 you can experiment with that.
The Sixers lead the Knicks 68-48 at the half. The Sixers forced the Knicks to shoot very contested deep twos in the first half and defended very well. The Knicks were held to 32 percent from the field in the first half compared to the 76ers’ 57 percent, including 7/12 from deep.
The gates stayed open in the second half and the Sixers ran away with it. Joel Embiid continued to dominate Enes Kanter or any big man the Knicks attempted to guard him with.
The Knicks continued to struggle shooting the ball. The Sixers’ defense eliminated them from driving to the basket, so a Knicks team who is not equipped to make offense from the perimeter, were forced to jack up bad shots. Jimmy Butler put Tim Hardaway Jr. on straps tonight. Coming into the game THJ was the Knicks leading scorer at 23 points per game, and tonight he shot 1/11 from the field with five points. The Knicks team was forced to shoot long, contested twos, which if you know, are one of the most inefficient shots in basketball.
One interesting trend in the third quarter I saw was frequent Ben Simmons post ups with Embiid on the perimeter. Simmons had struggled with his post game last year but tonight he used it to back down often times, smaller defenders or dish the ball for an open shot.
Tonight Jimmy Butler was almost invisible. He had seven points, four rebounds, and two assists. This was the complete opposite game we saw from the 76ers on Sunday in Brooklyn that utilized Jimmy a lot more in the offense. This is not something to be concerned about because they played the Knicks tonight but it is something to keep an eye on.
The J.J Redick and Joel Embiid PnR game closed the team out in the third quarter making their lead come to 25 points being up 93-68. Through the first three quarters, Embiid and Redick made 19 shots combined which were only four less than the entire Knicks team combined.
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After the starters were taken out of the game, it was a 30 point game were the Sixers just ran through their sets and threw up shots. It was not something worth watching or talking about. The game had already been decided at the end of the third.