The Good:
- The Sixers return home! With the way the road trip ended, with five straight double-digit loses, Philadelphia could use a return home and a return to their own beds and lives. Though they have not won a game there all season, it should be nice for the hometown fanatics to get back to a live, local game.
- Robert Covington and Tony Wroten, when playing together, look like a lethal offensive combination. Wroten loves to drive and Covington loves to shoot. In some cases, they like doing vice-versa. In their last contest, as Wroten filled in for Michael Carter-Williams, the duo combined for 50 points and looked to really be in synch with each other. At this point, the team is just looking for positive lineup combinations, and it seems as though anyone with Covington in it is a good start.
The Bad:
- The Sixers’ recent defense. Granted, two of them came against elite NBA teams in the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers, but the Sixers have allowed122 points per game over their last three contests. That is essentially giving them zero chance of winning any of their games.
- Unfortunate news came from the team off the court and away from the road trip this weekend. Harvey Pollack, the 92 year-old stat guru for the Sixers, was involved in a car accident. Leaving the Mummers Parade, he crashed his car into a parking grarage wall and broke his hip, which he had surgery to repair.
The Ugly:
- What is up with Nerlens Noel lately? Dei Lynam asked Brett Brown what he has seen in his rookie lately, and Brown acknowledged Noel has been “out of it”. There is a lack of aggression and fluidness in his game of late, and the big man is only averaging 5.5 points per game over his last six contests. Against the Clippers, he managed to shoot only 3-12 and it was his third game this road trip with a field goal percentage of 25% or less.
- Speaking of shooting, Michael Carter-Williams has been atrocious lately, before his injury. After shooting 2-20 against Utah, he followed up that performance with a 1-7 dud in Golden State. Never confused as a great shooter, MCW needs to at least be a competent shooter if he becomes a future building block.
Around the NBA:
- Now loaded with Rajon Rondo aboard, the Dallas Mavericks are ascending up the Western Conference standings. Winners of 5 in a row and 8 of the last 10, Dallas has now cracked the top four spots in the West.
- Amazingly, the Atlanta Hawks lead the Eastern Conference standings after winning 9 of their last 10. They also have the third-best record in all of basketball. How many casual fans do you think can name their starting five? Or even top three scorers?
- As ticket holders of tonight’s game are painfully aware of, LeBron James will miss a few weeks with knee soreness. Cleveland is currently 19-15 and sit in fifth place in the wide-open Eastern Conference.
