Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Hornets
Instant observations after Sixers-Hornets.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
After what might have been the worst loss of the season in Detroit, the Sixers returned home for an afternoon contest with the Charlotte Hornets. Here’s what jumped out to me today:
Pro: Tobias Harris finding his footing in new role
You’ve read it and heard about it a million times by now. Since the Sixers acquired James Harden, they have needed Harris to evolve into a quicker decision-maker and a more confident spot-up shooter.
Harris’ adjustment period has been interesting to watch, to say the least. On some nights, it seems like he’s really getting it and making strides. But there are still games in which he reverts back to the methodical style he is used to playing with.
Fortunately for the Sixers, today Harris showed perhaps the most progress to date he’s had adapting to the Harden-led offense.
Harris was hot early, knocking down three triples in the first quarter alone. Harris showed his confidence, getting up a very impressive seven attempts from beyond the arc in the first half alone.
If Harris continues to let it rip off the catch rather than dribbling the air out of the ball, it will significantly improve the Sixers’ pace -- a facet of the game Doc Rivers has frequently said he wants to improve -- and the team’s floor spacing would be much better, as Harris would provide more gravity for Harden and Embiid.
Pro: Matisse Thybulle bounces back
Thybulle has struggled of late, being even more damaging to the Sixers’ half-court offense than usual. There have been a few recent games in which he did not make the closing lineup because of how much he’s struggled on the offensive end.
This afternoon, however, we saw the very best of Thybulle.
Thybulle gave the Sixers the usual big boost he provides on defense, but I’m actually going to start by talking about his offense. Thybulle knocked down a few open threes and made himself available as a cutter for some easy baskets.
After a miscommunication with Embiid early in the second half, Thybulle was able to right the ship and put together an excellent stretch of basketball that included a three-pointer, a backcourt steal that would make TJ McConnell proud and an acrobatic save that gave the Sixers an extra possession during their third quarter run.
He ran into a bit of foul trouble late, but Thybulle’s defensive performance was encouraging as well, even for someone with a reputation like his. After fouling a three-point shooter early on, he was able to maintain discipline the rest of the way, an issue that he does grapple with on occasion.
Thybulle’s defense on Hornets star LaMelo Ball was more than good enough, as the young All-Star did not leave much of an impact on the game. On offense, Thybulle was merely competent -- and that is all the Sixers need him to be.
Pro: Teamwork makes the dream work
In their loss to Detroit, the Sixers had far too many isolation plays, and they seemed like five individuals on the court rather than a single unit. Nothing was in sync down the stretch, it was a lot of “your turn, now my turn.”
Today, the Sixers remedied that in a major way. The starting lineup alone combined for 29 assists (!), led by Harden’s 13. In fact, all nine rotation regulars had at least one assist in the game.
The Sixers won’t always shoot the ball as well as they did tonight -- hot shooting is never completely sustainable. But what is sustainable is playing with the right… wait for it… Process.
Instead of the stagnace they showed on Thursday night, the Sixers displayed a much-improved brand of basketball predicated upon selflessness and movement. As they search for a true identity before the playoffs, they should be eager to repeat today’s showing.