The Philadelphia 76ers were in a tough spot on Sunday night in New York. They were not able to build any momentum against a tough Knicks team, and they were taking hit after hit.
The corner 3 by Knicks All-Star Julius Randle to force overtime seemed like it was going to be the final nail in the coffin. Former Sixer Alec Burks hit a couple of shots in the extra period, and it seemed like this had a loss written all over it.
However, the veteran experience of Danny Green came into play, and the Sixers pulled out a 101-100 win at Madison Square Garden.
“Danny saved the game for us,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He was the only one, in my opinion, that kept his composure. The game should have never gone in overtime, and let me just put it that way, you could feel our energy, it wasn’t a good energy. Guys were down. They were mad. They thought they had blown the game.”
(function (d, s, n) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
js = d.createElement(s);
js.className = n;
js.src = “//player.ex.co/player/d8b9c085-4226-44f1-8495-36ad4e2aa62d”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘exco-player’));
Green finished with 11 points. All came in the fourth quarter and overtime. He hit two huge 3-pointers in the extra session when Philadelphia was unable to come up with consistent offense against a stingy Knicks defense.
“Those two 3s that he did make, even before regulation the go-ahead basket that he made that time too was big,” said Tobias Harris. “His leadership and what he brings to the table all the time, he was able to get good looks off. Danny is a really good player, solid player for us every single night, and tonight you just see that. You see that composure and that leadership. There’s a reason why he has three rings.”
It was an emotional game all around. The Knicks have played the Sixers tough all season and they were looking to snap a lengthy losing streak to Philadelphia. They had lost 14 straight games to the Sixers heading into Sunday so the game was intense throughout its entirety.
It helps to have Green’s experience in those tight situations.
“It helps having that experience, obviously,” Green explained. “I wouldn’t say I was the only person who held my composure, we had a couple of guys, but I think he could sense the hostility. Obviously, it was an intense game, but some of the guys made some plays that they didn’t like, things didn’t go the way we wanted it to go, and we pretty much did everything possible to give them the game, and guys are not in a good place. I just tried to encourage them.”
Green has a lot of respect on this team and in this league, and he stepped up when the team needed him the most. His veteran moxie combined with his clutch shooting is a needed asset to the team, which needed it at the beginning of overtime.
“I felt like it was a lot of game, a lot of time to get what just happened in the past,” he added. “We had a lot of basketball to be played. We can still win this game. We haven’t lost yet. There’s a lot more to happen so stay positive, pick it up, get it back, it’ll come back to you. We had a good opportunity to get a stop, to get a bucket. That was the biggest key.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=video id=01f1gggsk6zk5ax1ww playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f1gggsk6zk5ax1ww/01f1gggsk6zk5ax1ww-c28a3569cb2f1e982d8b403c55bdcb4f.jpg]
[lawrence-related id=43808,43798,43795]