With the NBA in infinite quarantine, I am continuing my quarantine diary where I give my thoughts to a game whenever a game becomes accessible. These will become a bit more frequent now that all games have become accessible.
This edition moves on to the fourth game of the season when the Philadelphia 76ers hosted Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves in an electric battle from October 30.
First Quarter
- Robert Covington is playing in his first game back in Philadelphia since the Jimmy Butler trade gets a standing ovation during player intros and he gets rejected on his first shot attempt of the game. That leads to a Joel Embiid bucket for Philly. Welcome back, Robert.
- Embiid absolutely schools Towns in the post. That footwork is something to behold, man. As talented as Towns is, he will not be able to keep up with Embiid in the post. He never has been able to.
- Covington badly misses a fairly easy layup in transition and the sound you hear are Sixers fans cheering that he is not doing that for Philly anymore. Tobias Harris then answers with a triple which is a good sign for him after the nightmarish game in Atlanta.
- Philadelphia is on a 14-3 run capped off by a Mike Scott layup and the thing that stands out to me is Ben Simmons’ defense. Like, wow is this guy getting after it. He’s getting in the passing lanes and he is airtight with Jeff Teague.
- Matisse Thybulle drills a corner triple off a nice pass by Embiid and Josh Richardson knocks down a jumper to give the Sixers a 32-24 lead after one quarter. New Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi is in the house. That’s a nice Philly touch.
Second Quarter
- Furkan Korkmaz is alive! A nice move into the paint for a bucket. He has been a non-factor in the first few games.
- Covington takes a deep 3-pointer and he badly misses much to the cheers of the Wells Fargo Center crowd before Korkmaz makes a tough triple. That triggers a bit of a run as Al Horford scores down low and James Ennis III hits a layup. The Timberwolves are struggling to find any type of offense to find a groove.
- What exactly is Andrew Wiggins? The athleticism and talent are there, but he looks so nonchalant out there and it shows. He should be a lot better than he is. Like you could make the case that Richardson is better than him. Actually, is it even a case ? I’d take Richardson.
- Embiid ends the half with a deep 3-pointer over the outstretched hands of Towns and Philadelphia leads it 62-43 at the half. He has 13 points at the break and the Sixers held Minnesota to 19 points in that quarter.
Third Quarter
- The Timberwolves hilariously try turning to Jake Layman to defend Simmons. The 6-foot-10 athlete backs him down in the post and gets an easy bucket. Embiid then bullies Towns in the paint for an easy bucket. He is too big and skilled in the post for him.
- The Sixers have been doubling Towns for the majority of this game so far. They clearly do not respect the pieces around him just leaving those players open willingly in order to shut him down. For the most part, it has worked.
- At the 6:42 mark, WE HAVE ACTION!! Embiid gave Towns a hard double team and he didn’t like it. The two immediately push each other, Towns throws a punch–and badly misses–and the two then end up on the ground with Simmons having Towns in a chokehold. Horford and Richardson get into it too and this is just pure entertainment.
- Embiid is egging on the home crowd as he is clearly loving all of this while Scott gives his stamp of approval. The final result is both big men getting ejected from this game. Without Towns, Minnesota doesn’t have much of a chance of a rally in this one down by 20.
- After the dust finally settles and Embiid has his fun, basketball can resume and it resumes with Simmons slamming one down for a 79-58 lead. The Timberwolves will have to rely on Wiggins the rest of the way. What a time right now.
- Minnesota makes a run to cut the deficit to 81-65, but Philadelphia answers with a few buckets from Ennis III, Harris, and Simmons then throws down a ridiculous slam and they lead it 89-68. Officials are now calling things a bit closer now since the Embiid-Towns drama and that is dragging this third quarter out a bit.
- The quarter finally ends with the Sixers leading 92-78 after Jarrett Culver banks in a triple for Minnesota. The Sixers are losing a bit of interest in this game. They will have to respond in order to close it out.
Fourth Quarter
- The free throws by Minnesota got them to within 12 to begin this fourth, but the defense tightens, Harris hits some free throws, and Korkmaz knocks down a triple and he then cuts to finish off a dunk to get the lead back to 99-80. The one thing I can’t stand about brawls is the officials begin to call things much tighter and it kills the flow of the game.
- A Wiggins dunk at the 7:07 mark of the fourth is Minnesota’s first field goal of the quarter after a Korkmaz triple. The Sixers lead is still 20 at this point.
- Why is Brett Brown challenging a call here!? Why!? You’re up 16 with 6:14 left. This second half has been a slog since the battle of the big men.
- Games like this one is what shows Horford’s value. He has been really solid in place of the ejected Embiid. The Sixers have not missed a beat on offense. This is why they gave him the money they did in the offseason.
- Jonah Bolden enters the game and that’s when you know it’s a wrap. The Sixers get to 4-0 with a 117-95 win.
Embiid led Philadelphia with 19 points before the ejection, Korkmaz had 17, Simmons had 16 points and seven assists, Harris had 18 and nine rebounds, and Horford had 12 and 16 with Richardson adding 12. It was a good all-around game for the Sixers who now hit the road for a four-game road trip. [lawrence-related id=28010,27972,27964]