Tag: Georges Niang

Sixers’ Georges Niang explains what happened on tech with Jaylen Brown

Philadelphia 76ers forward Georges Niang explains what happened with Jaylen Brown in the Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics.

BOSTON–There was an odd play in the first half of Game 7 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Celtics star Jaylen Brown dove into the Sixers’ bench to go after a loose ball and then he appeared to be stuck on the bench.

Brown then turned to yell at Philadelphia’s bench group and the officials stepped in and blew the whistle dead. After a lengthy review, the officiating ruled that Georges Niang grabbed Brown’s knee, and that stopped him from getting back onto the court and play.

After the 112-88 loss to the Celtics, Niang explained his point of view on what happened with Brown.

“He had fell on the bench and I guess it looked like I grabbed him,” Niang added. “I haven’t looked at the film. It was a bang-bang play. Nothing malicious so take it for what it is. It’s an intense environment and things happen quickly.”

In terms of his intent behind the play, Niang stated there wasn’t any. It was just a tough play and things happen in the heat of battle.

“I don’t think it was purposely done to hurt Jaylen,” he added. “I think these things happen over the course of the game. He came to the bench and if it looked like I was holding him back to get back on defense, that wasn’t my intention.”

Niang had himself a solid season for the Sixers off the bench, but after yet another second round exit, he stated that the loss on Sunday stings a bit.

“There’s some ups and downs,” Niang finished. “We have a great team and, obviously, it stings because you don’t know how many opportunities you’re gonna have to have a team that’s good enough to win it. So obviously, it stings and I’m gonna take some time to overall wrap my head around it and think about the year.”

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Player grades: Joel Embiid, Sixers come up short in Game 7 vs. Celtics

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers fall to the Boston Celtics on the road in Game 7 as their season comes to an end.

BOSTON–The Philadelphia 76ers had their opportunity staring right in front of them. The task was simple: Win and advance to their first Eastern Conference finals in 22 years.

With that being said, the Boston Celtics are not an easy team to bury. The Cs proved that on Thursday when they went into Philadelphia and staved off elimination that night to force this Game 7.

The Celtics took a double-digit lead in the third quarter as Jayson Tatum took over for Boston and the Sixers were not able to fight back. Joel Embiid and James Harden had a tough time finding their offensive rhythm and the Celtics walked away with the 112-88 win to end Philadelphia’s season. Tatum scored a Game 7 record 51 points for Boston.

Embiid had 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting and two blocks, Harden had nine points on 3-for-11 shooting, six rebounds, and seven assists, Tobias Harris had 17 points, PJ Tucker had 11, and Tyrese Maxey had 17.

Here are the player grades following the season-ending loss:

NBA fans crushed ref Scott Foster after he T’d up Jaylen Brown despite Georges Niang grabbing him

The NBA’s worst ref continued to be bad.

You know referees do their job well when fans don’t know their names. Scott Foster is not one of those referees.

When fans saw Foster’s name on the officiating crew for Sunday’s Game 7 between the Sixers and Celtics, controversy seemed inevitable. Foster has a habit of taking over games and missing the simplest of calls in the process. Yet, the NBA continues to give the longtime official marquee assignments.

After all, few officials would handle the incident between Georges Niang and Jaylen Brown worse than Foster.

During the first half, Brown leaped towards the Sixers bench as he successfully saved a long rebound. Brown then turned and had some words for the Sixers, but that was because Niang grabbed Brown’s leg.

Rather than hit Niang with a technical (or a possible ejection) and send the Celtics to the line, Foster called technicals on both Brown and Niang. He essentially punished Brown for being upset about a bench player grabbing his leg. It made no sense. In a close game, the Celtics could have used that point. But with a double technical, neither team gets to shoot free throws.

Fans weren’t pleased with how Foster handled the situation either.

Sixers leaning on road success to help them be ready for Game 7

The Philadelphia 76ers are leaning on their road success they’ve had all season to help them in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics.

CAMDEN, N.J.–All season long, the Philadelphia 76ers have been a tough team on the road. They finished the regular season with a 25-16 road record and they are 4-1 so far on the road in the playoffs.

As they head back to TD Garden for Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, they are in a tough position after dropping an opportunity to eliminate the Cs at home, but all is not lost.

The Sixers have two road wins in this series with the Celtics and as they head back up for Game 7, coach Doc Rivers believes his team is tougher as they head into this matchup.

“We’re a different team,” Rivers said on Saturday. “We’re just a better team. Tomorrow will be what we’ve been trying to keep improving on. We’re tougher, and we’re going to have to be. We’re more physical and we don’t worry about the atmosphere. We play and we’ve done that all year. If I’m a guessing man, I think we’re going to do that tomorrow.”

Rivers has instilled a toughness and a strong mindset into his team that they have leaned on and needed all season. They will have to do so again with the season on the line on Sunday afternoon.

“I think we’ve been road warriors all year,” added Georges Niang. “I think Doc has said numerous times. This is a we season and it’s just us. We’re all we have on the road and I think we kinda relish in that and love that when it’s just us against the world.”

The Sixers have fought through a lot of adversity. They have done an excellent job of proving their toughness and being able to battle and overcome challenges, but Game 7 will be a different test. Their season is on the line and they have to go into one of the more hostile environments in the league.

“Well, we better and I think we are,” Rivers said of his team being ready to fight. “You could feel the energy today (Saturday). They didn’t come today thinking, ‘Ah, we’ve got to go.’ They came today ready to get on the plane, looking forward to it.”

Game 7 is Sunday afternoon from the TD Garden.

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Sixers address lack of offensive execution vs. Celtics before Game 7

The Philadelphia 76ers discuss their lack of offensive execution against the Boston Celtics as they prepare for Game 7.

CAMDEN, N.J.–When the Philadelphia 76ers look back at their Game 6 loss to the Boston Celtics, they are going to kick themselves for not only the lack of offensive execution, but also the amount of wide-open looks they weren’t able to knock down.

On wide-open threes, which are defined by NBA.com as the closest defender being six or more feet away, the Sixers were only 6-for-25. 

That isn’t going to cut it in Game 7, but obviously, the fact that they were able to get those open looks is a great sign for them going forward. So while there was a lack of execution in some moments, they were able to get a lot of open looks.

“I think we watched the shots that we missed,” said Georges Niang. “At the end of the day, it’s really hard to win games when you shoot under 40%. Even if it was during the regular season, you’d be thrilled if you can get out of a game only shooting 37% or 38% whatever we shot.”

On the night, the Sixers shot just 36.1% as a group and they were 8-for-34 from deep. It was just one of those nights and it came at an inopportune moment for Philadelphia. If they get those same looks again, they feel confident they’ll knock them down.

“We had good looks,” added Tobias Harris. “Some of them didn’t fall and like I said after the game, those are a lot of looks we normally will take on any given night and we usually do make them. It’s a two-fold thing, but the biggest thing for us is keep trusting and keep relying on those type of looks, keep having the ball move around to find open guys and guys just being ready to make shots. It’s all of us.”

The film session for the Sixers on Saturday was a productive one as coach Doc Rivers pointed out the missed opportunities as his team prepares for Game 7.

“The first film (clip) today was, I don’t know how long it took, 45 seconds of missed shots with no sound, nobody talking,” said Rivers. “I just showed it. I didn’t say a word, I just showed it, and then I turned it off. I turned around and everybody was like, ‘Holy goodness.’ You could just see them and so I finally turned around and I said, ‘What do you guys see?’ And they were like, ‘We’re good.’ That was the first thing that someone said: ‘We’re good’.”

Obviously, the Sixers feel good about their chances heading into Game 7 and they should. They have been a tough team all season and they were able to generate good looks in Game 6. They just weren’t able to knock them down.

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Player grades: Celtics defeat Sixers in Game 6 to keep season alive

The Boston Celtics walk away with a Game 6 win over the Philadelphia 76ers to keep their season alive and force a Game 7.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to finish the Boston Celtics and advance to their first Eastern Conference finals since 2001. They knew their challenge would tough: These Celtics are not so easy to bury.

Amid a raucous atmosphere at the Wells Fargo Center, the Celtics put on a shooting clinic in the opening minutes. They couldn’t miss a 3 while the Sixers were running in quicksand.

Philadelphia worked its way back and led in the fourth quarter, but the Celtics walked away with a 95-86 victory to keep their season alive and force a Game 7.

Joel Embiid had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey had 26 points. James Harden added 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. PJ Tucker added eight points and Tobias Harris had two on 1-for-7 shooting.

Here are the player grades following the loss:

Player grades: Joel Embiid leads Sixers over Celtics in pivotal Game 5

Joel Embiid leads the Philadelphia 76ers over the Boston Celtics in a pivotal Game 5 on the road.

BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers had been in this position before in a 2-2 series. They knew their history. They knew what they had done in the past.

It didn’t matter.

The Sixers invaded TD Garden on Tuesday night in a pivotal Game 5 with the Boston Celtics, and they dominated from start to finish in a 115-103 victory. Joel Embiid had 33 points, seven rebounds and four blocks putting the Sixers on the brink of reaching their first Eastern Conference finals since 2001.

James Harden added 17 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. Tyrese Maxey had 30 points and seven rebounds, and Tobias Harris had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Danuel House Jr. added 10 points off the bench.

Here are the player grades following the win:

Player grades: James Harden leads Sixers over Celtics in Game 4 at home

James Harden leads the Philadelphia 76ers past the Boston Celtics in a critical Game 4 at home.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers needed a win to keep themselves in this series with the Boston Celtics. After dropping Game 3 at home, they couldn’t afford to go down 3-1 with the series shifting back to TD Garden on Tuesday.

While the Celtics had a solid start to give the Sixers trouble, it was all Philadelphia from the start of the second quarter. While the Celtics made a late push to take a lead in the fourth, the Sixers turned to their Hall of Fame point guard.

James Harden was phenomenal. He had 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds after a stinker of a Game 3. Joel Embiid added 34 points and 13 rebounds in a 116-115 win in overtime. This series is tied 2-2 headed back to the TD Garden.

Tyrese Maxey had 14 points and eight rebounds. Tobias Harris had nine points and seven rebounds, and Georges Niang added nine off the bench.

Here are the player grades after the win:

Player grades: Celtics use balanced attack to beat Sixers in Game 3

The Boston Celtics used a balanced attack in order to knock off the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3 on the road.

PHILADELPHIA–The scene was set for the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. They returned home with a 1-1 split in Boston, Joel Embiid was presented with his MVP award in an emotional moment before the game, and the Wells Fargo Center was a madhouse on Broad Street.

The game didn’t start off great as Boston started off red-hot on the offensive end and they built up a double-digit lead. They maintained a lead for the majority of the game, and while the Sixers fought back and even took a lead, they weren’t able to get it done. The Celtis walked away with an important 114-102 victory. Boston had six players score in double-figures.

Embiid had 30 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks to lead Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxey had 13 points and six rebounds, PJ Tucker had nine, and De’Anthony Melton added 14 and eight rebounds. Tobias Harris had seven points and four boards while Harden had 16 on 3-for-14 shooting, 11 assists, and six rebounds with five turnovers.

Here are the player grades following the loss at home:

Player grades: Joel Embiid returns, but Sixers fall to Celtics in Game 2

Joel Embiid returned from injury, but the Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Boston Celtics in Game 2 as the series is now 1-1.

BOSTON — With Joel Embiid back in the lineup, the Philadelphia 76ers were looking to get greedy on Wednesday night and take a 2-0 series lead with them back to the Wells Fargo Center.

The Boston Celtics were trying to get on the board in this series and give themselves a chance.

The Sixers, however, had a tough time finding a consistent offensive rhythm. They were getting good looks all night, but they weren’t able to take advantage of any of them. It led to a 121-87 Game 2 loss, leaving the series tied at 1. Philadelphia shot 6-for-30 from deep.

Embiid had 15 points on 4-for-9 shooting and five blocks in his return, James Harden had 12 points on 2-for-14 shooting and 10 rebounds, Tyrese Maxey had 13 points, and Tobias Harris had 16 points and seven rebounds.

Here are the player grades following the loss: