Happy New Year, the Sixers stink again – NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Philadelphia 76ers had us fans spoiled with three straight games of professional competence, leading us to think maybe we were out of the woods in the soul-crushing losses department going into 2016. Not so fast, schmartenheimer — the Sixers got plowed last night by the other worst team in basketball, the one who gave us what looked for a little while there might end up being our only win of the '15-'16 season. A miserable three quarters of hooping for both teams was redeemed, for the Los Angeles Lakers at least, by long-overdue fourth quarter coherence, as the Sixers ran aground. Final score: Los Angeles 93, Philadelphia 84.
Tough game all around for Philly, but it looks like pretty solid evidence in a small sample size that as recently acquired Ish Smith goes, so go these new-look 76ers. Ish had his worst game as a Sixer — in either go-round likely — last night, shooting an appalling 3-19, with just as many turnovers (three) as assists. He was badly off all night, missing open jumpers and some absolute gimmes at the rim, and minus an early connection or two, not even really finding the pick-and-roll magic with Nerlens Noel.
Of course, it's hard to get too much on Ish Smith for his shooting woes when bricking was a friggin' epidemic for the Fightin Franklins last night. Nik Stauskas went 2-9, officially making it look like we're gonna pay for his one night of hot shooting with another weeks-long cold streak. Isaiah Canaan was 2-11, missing some long bombs the Sixers absolutely needed to have. The only hot shooter on the Sixers for the night was T.J. McConnell, somehow, but he'll never be a volume shooter, and after hitting his first four early, he only went 1-2 the rest of the night.
Our two bigs combined for another decent stat line: 27 points on 12-21 shooting, with 16 rebounds, three steals, and four blocks — Nerlens doing most of the heavy lifting in the last few categories. But Noel's inability to to do anything on offense outside of three feet from the rim still really hurts his ability to be productive: he missed each of his jumpers last night, and his one attempt at a floater rocketed out of his hands, way too strong to even be banked in. And though Jahlil Okafor was mostly solid on defense early, he looked absolutely gassed by game's end, and his hilariously low-energy attempt at a contest on a late Lou Williams three basically sealed this one for L.A.
Speaking of Williams, of course he sank the Sixers last night. For three quarters it seemed like the best and only offense that the Lakers had was the classic Lou Jumping Into People offense, and then in the fourth when he actually hit a couple shots to go with all the free throws — 12 of 'em — you knew the Sixers were done for. As little as I enjoyed the work of Sweet Lou while he was a Liberty Baller, it's heartening to know that I find him twice as aggravating as an opponent.
All this said, if the Sixers had to start off their year with an embarrassing loss to someone, the Lakers are the right call. L.A. has now won two in a row, giving them a whole seven wins for the season — just two back of the Brooklyn Nets, and three back of the New Orleans Pelicans. The Lakers catching one or both of those teams in the standings could be tremendously advantageous for the Sixers, since the fewer lottery balls they have, the more likely that their top-three-protected pick transfers over to the Sixers as a #4 or #5 pick in this June's draft. Still would've rather had the W, but in the long run, we may look back and be thankful we lost this one.
Tonight, the Sixers stick in Los Angeles to play the Clippers, in a game that has annually been the most ass-kicking (in the bad way) of the Sixers' season. Can Ish bounce back against Chris Paul? You might not want to stay home on the first Saturday night of 2016 just to find out.
