Brookover: Win over Clippers, DeAndre Jordan's airballed free throws prove 76ers' momentum
This team and this town belong to Joel Embiid right now. This night, however, belonged to his teammates and the comical exercise of watching DeAndre Jordan trying to sink an uncontested shot from 15 feet.
This team and this town belong to Joel Embiid right now.
This night, however, belonged to his teammates and the comical exercise of watching DeAndre Jordan trying to sink an uncontested shot from 15 feet.
With Embiid sitting out a second straight game Tuesday because of a bruised knee, the 76ers' supporting cast showed that it, too, can entertain the reenergized crowds at the Wells Fargo Center by rallying from a 19-point deficit early in the second half to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 121-110.
Sixers coach Brett Brown insisted before the game that his team does not become demoralized by the absence of their rising, 7-foot-2 superstar, who sat out for the 13th time in 43 games.
"I think it's almost the opposite with our guys and all of our abundance of bigs," Brown said. "I think that they see daylight. They see an opportunity to play. Developing and experimenting and opportunity. I think those kinds of words come to mind more than, 'Woe is me.' "
Perhaps, but plan B without Embiid initially was to showcase Jahlil Okafor, who has become the square peg trying to fit into a round hole when "The Process" is playing center for the Sixers. Okafor, however, was also scratched with a knee injury of his own. It was the eighth time in 12 games that he did not play, and right now it's fair to wonder whether the 76ers could get someone as talented as Ersan Ilyasova in a trade for the third overall pick in the 2015 draft.
That's not good, but what the 76ers did Tuesday was great, winning for just the third time this season in a game that Embiid did not play. They had 35 assists, shot 50 percent from the field, and committed just five turnovers.
"I think this reinforces and validates how we're trying to grow the program," Brown said. "It's a team. To come in with 35 assists and 45 made field goals with [five] turnovers, I'm proud of that stat. That is how you want to play. You want to play fast and you want to share, and we did do that tonight without Jahlil and without Joel."
Second-year center Richaun Holmes had the game of his life, hitting eight of his 11 shots to match a career high with 18 points. After entering the game in the first quarter, he scored 11 points in a 3-minute and 30-second span. He also had a second-quarter block of Blake Griffin as the Clippers star attempted a slam midway through the second quarter.
Nerlens Noel connected on 8 of 10 shots from the field and finished with a team-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Those two were the best players on the court for the Sixers, but every player scored at least seven points and six guys reached double figures.
"It's just the scary truth that [Embiid] is not going to be playing back-to-backs this year, so we have to win without him in some games," point guard T.J. McConnell said after contributing nine points and 10 assists. "When we do, it feels good. He's a big part of why we've been winning, and when we win without him it just shows our growth and maturity."
Down by 19 points just over two minutes into the second half, the 76ers rallied to pull even by the end of the third quarter with the assistance of two air balls from the free-throw line by Jordan. One of the worst free-throw shooters in league history, Jordan made just 4 of 12 from the line, and when he shot an air ball midway through the third quarter it sent the crowd of 17,591 into a frenzy. It even drew a smile from Embiid as he sat on the sideline in a suit.
"There's no empathy [for Jordan]," Robert Covington said after scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Covington immediately started urging the crowd to heckle Jordan after the first air ball, and Brown even ordered intentional fouls to maintain the crowd's energy and the Sixers' momentum.
"That was to our advantage," Covington said. "He's one of the worst free-throw shooters in the league, and our game plan was whenever he got an opportunity to score we were going to foul him."
It worked. In fact, everything worked for the 76ers Tuesday, which is why they won on a night when Embiid was unable to show up for work.