76ers-Clippers Best & Worst: Noel, Mbah a Moute and Wells Fargo's high decibel levels
Here is my look at some of the best and worst performances and happenings from the 76ers' 121-110 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Best performance: This was a tough one. Make that an extremely tough one. But I had to give this to Nerlens Noel even though his Sixers teammate Richaun Holmes was on fire. Holmes scored 11 points in his first four minutes. He ended up with a career-high-tying 18 points. It was great job by the second-year center in his second game back from a stint in the NBA Development League. I gave the award to Noel because of his all-around game. Noel, who got the start, finished with a team-high 19 points, He also had eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a game-high three blocks. Eleven of his points came in the fourth quarter on 3-for-3 shooting. Noel also recorded two of his block while playing the entire fourth.
Worst performance: I hate to do this to my man, Luc Mbah a Moute. But the brother went missing in action. The Clippers small forward missed his only shot attempt and was held scoreless. Mbah a Moute finished with just two rebounds against his former team. He did block one shot in 17 minutes, 56 seconds of action. However, he was a nonfactor is this game.
Best defensive performance: Noel has to receive this one, too. He came up with some clutch defensive plays with the game on the line in the fourth. The 6-foot-11, 232-pounder showed that he can still produce on the defense end when given playing time.
Best performance by a Clipper: Jamal Crawford showed why he keeps winning sixth-man-of-the-year awards. The reserve guard finished with a game-high 27 points on 9-for-14 shooting. He kept hitting big shot after big shot.
Worst statistic: You have to give this to the Clippers' foul shooting. They made just 26 of 41 for 63.4 thanks in large part to their center DeAndre Jordan (see Worst of the Worst).
Best statistic: This award goes to the Sixers' turnovers. They committed a season-low six turnovers. That's a major accomplishment for a team ranked 29th out of the league's 30 teams with 16.5 turnovers per game.
Worst of the Worst: This award goes to Jordan's free-throw shooting. The Clippers center missed eight of his 12 foul shots. A couple of them appeared to be airballs. Knowing he's a bad free-throw shooter, the Sixers kept fouling him in the second half, when he made just 3 of 10 attempts.
Best of the Best: The Sixers fans receive this award, because of the Wells Fargo Center's high decibel levels when Jordan was at the foul line. I've never heard the arena that loud in my four seasons of covering the Sixers. The 17,591 in attendance gave the Sixers a serious home-court advantage.
Follow and contact 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers.