To pass the time while the NBA is on hiatus, we’ll be rewatching and reflecting on some notable games of recent 76ers past. First up: a 108-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 30, 2016.
During the 2015-16 regular season, the Sixers and Warriors operated at opposite ends of the basketball world’s spectrum.
Advertisement
The Sixers finished that year 10-72, one loss away from tying the worst record in NBA history (set by Philadelphia in 1972-73). The Warriors went 73-9, one win ahead of the previous record-holders, the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72-10). The Sixers started the 2015-16 campaign 1-30; the Warriors started it 30-2. Philadelphia had the worst offensive rating in the league (98.4), while the Warriors had the best (113.5). Stylistically, Golden State boasted a pristinely spaced offense whose success accelerated the pace and space and small-ball movements exponentially. Brett Brown’s opening night starting lineup included Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor and JaKarr Sampson.
By now, plenty has been said about this Sixers era and how the team’s embrace of losing was seen by many as an embarrassment to basketball. (It even led commissioner Adam Silver to reportedly push the front office to hire Jerry Colangelo as chairman of basketball operations the month before this Warriors game.) Golden State, meanwhile, was setting records and changing the way the game was played.
So, against this backdrop, few would have expected a decent game between these clubs — let alone a competitive one that came down to the final shot on a Saturday night. This quintessential “Process-era” roster was actually a reason the Warriors nearly failed to set the single-season record for wins.
How did a historically bad team nearly defeat a historically great team, you ask? I rewatched the game to find out.
Warriors starters: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut
76ers starters: Ish Smith, Nik Stauskas, Robert Covington, Jerami Grant, Nerlens Noel
Here’s one obvious factor that allowed the Sixers to be in this game: It was one of the few nights that season that Noel and Okafor didn’t start together. The Warriors broadcast mentions this was due to Okafor having stomach issues before the game. (Four days later, Okafor was back in the starting lineup alongside Noel. Philadelphia lost that early February game 124-86 to the Atlanta Hawks.)
Advertisement
First quarter, 9:55 remaining: Noel misses a jump hook (Warriors 6, 76ers 3). Despite the improved spacing from playing only one center, the game’s early stages are an immediate reminder of how awful the Sixers’ offense was this season. Noel chucks up laser-beam jump hooks. Grant tries to Euro-step through three defenders. Smith dribbles in circles and gets nowhere. It’s not pretty. They finished as the 30th-ranked offense that season for a reason.
1Q, 9:48 remaining: Covington breaks up a pass to a cutting Curry (Warriors 6, 76ers 3). On the flip side, you also get a glimpse of what will keep this game close: Philadelphia’s rangy defenders. By the end, the trio of Noel, Grant and Covington will have racked up quite a few steals, blocks and deflections. Noel and Covington made some timely weak-side rotations early:
Let’s get one spoiler out of the way: Covington is the only reason the Sixers were in this game. His defense is masterful throughout the night, and he should have been the Sixers’ bell ringer for this one, even in a loss. Isaiah Canaan, T.J. McConnell, and Smith are the runner-ups.
1Q, 0:44 remaining: McConnell gets a steal, then locks up Curry (Warriors 34, 76ers 28). The Sixers hang tough throughout the first frame, despite some offensive flurries from the Warriors. After trailing by as many as 11 points, the Sixers close the first quarter down 34-28, thanks in large part to McConnell’s relentless activity:
Throughout the night, McConnell picks up his matchup at full court on every possession. Watching now, it’s remarkable how similarly McConnell plays today, as an established player in Indiana, to when he was an undrafted rookie clawing his way into the league. Then and now, he plays like a man possessed with determination.
Advertisement
Second quarter, 9:11 remaining: Okafor makes a 10-foot turnaround jumper (Warriors 42, 76ers 36). Years after this game, Okafor remains an interesting case study. He is so skilled, and has such great scoring feel, and yet there’s no place for him in the NBA. His defense has always been horrendous, but it’s still jarring to see a player with such skill hold so little value in today’s league. It’s likely as simple as this: When you can’t defend, create for others or score at elite efficiency, then what’s your value?
Still, these types of shots are pretty:
2Q, 8:26 remaining: McConnell steals the ball from Ian Clark (Warriors 45, 76ers 39). Canaan gets blocked here, but let’s just appreciate McConnell’s defense and hustle:
McConnell’s effort is a reminder of what made this team charming despite being abhorrently bad: They played hard as hell. And if you didn’t respect them and weren’t willing to match their effort, then maybe (maybe) you’d pay the price. (Even one of the greatest teams of all time had to sweat it out.) “You’re not gonna overlook us,” McConnell once said. “We’re not a guaranteed victory for the other team.”
2Q, 1:34 remaining: Bogut dunks in a lob from Curry (Warriors 66, 76ers 49). The wheels are starting to come off a bit. Noel misses a pair of layups, Smith can’t make a jumper and the Warriors are getting easy looks, like this lob to Bogut:
This type of play is a reminder of Noel’s pitfalls. He has his hands on his knees, with Bogut positioned behind him, and is anticipating a pin-down being set for Thompson. Bogut, of course, slips the screen and gets a dunk. Noel’s habits of dozing off and/or relentlessly chasing blocks and steals were always undersold during his time in Philly.
I can’t download the audio, but the Warriors commentators effusively praise the Sixers during this stretch. As this lob play unfolds, play-by-play man Bob Fitzgerald says, “If you’re Brett Brown, you’re saying, ‘We’re playing the world champs and we’re playing very well!'”
Advertisement
Color commentator Jim Barnett responds: “He can show this team the video here and say, ‘This is the way you play basketball.'”
The Sixers are down 17 … and getting pats on the back!
2Q, 0:02 remaining: Curry makes a transition layup (Warriors 73, 76ers 54). After some horrendous transition defense, Curry gets an easy bucket. The Dubs enter halftime up 19.
Third quarter, 4:57 remaining: Sampson airballs a jumper. Shot-clock violation (Warriors 84, 76ers 62). The first half of the third quarter is a slog. The Warriors are turnover prone and look clunky on offense, and the Sixers have been worse. The following possession encapsulates the Sixers’ offense. I’ll spare you from watching most of these, but I promise there are quite a few possessions like this one:
3Q, 2:03 remaining: Canaan is fouled on a driving layup (Warriors 86, 76ers 66). As Canaan steps to the free-throw line, Fitzgerald makes an interesting point about Brown: “You talk to opposing scouts who look at Philly, and they say, ‘Brett Brown is coaching every possession, on offense and defense,'” Fitzgerald says. “He’s not looking, ‘Hey, we’re down 20, just roll it out for the final quarter.'”
Brown earned this reputation during the Process years, but hearing it for the first time in quite a while is striking. Brown was actually calling offensive plays every time down the floor for a 10-win team, and passionately teaching players who stood little chance of staying in the NBA. Think of the mentality a coach must have to remain that committed. Hearing that quote from Fitzgerald is a reminder of the hell storm that Brown had to navigate back then, and how remarkable it was that it never broke his spirit.
3Q, 1:42 remaining: McConnell swishes a deep 2 in transition (Warriors 86, 76ers 70). After being down 24, the Sixers make a bit of a push. McConnell is orchestrating things on offense, and Canaan and Okafor pitch in some scoring, too. The Warriors’ offense has gone stale.
Advertisement
Random aside: Is this the quickest you’ve ever seen McConnell release a jumper?
McConnell’s jumper has gotten eminently slower in the four-plus years since. His lack of improvement as a shooter is also likely a major reason he’s no longer in Philadelphia.
3Q, 1:08 remaining: Okafor makes a gorgeous driving layup (Warriors 86, 76ers 72). Another aesthetically pleasing isolation bucket from Okafor.
If Okafor were a plus-defender, could the now 24-year-old be a starting center in the NBA? I’m asking because I don’t know the answer. Also, I think an underrated factor in him being empty calories on offense is that Okafor is not quite the behemoth that many made him out to be. He’s likely a shade over 6-foot-10 in shoes, and that’s not nearly overbearing enough to play bully-ball and draw fouls in the way that Joel Embiid does. Anyway, that’s enough Okafor thoughts.
3Q, 0:50 remaining: Covington deflects and steals a pass from Shaun Livingston (Warriors 86, 76ers 72). Now, we enter the portion of the game in which Covington wreaks havoc. This is an excellent breakup:
Fourth quarter, 10:05 remaining: Covington breaks up what would’ve been a Marreese Speights layup (Warriors 93, 76ers 77). After a little run from the Warriors, Covington starts to stem the tide. Immediately before this play, he connected on a deep, contested 3. And here, he makes a solid rotation to prevent a layup.
4Q, 9:00 remaining: Covington makes a driving layup (Warriors 93, 76ers 81). Golden State head coach Steve Kerr calls timeout and puts Curry and Thompson back into the game. What once was a 24-point Warriors lead is now 12.
Advertisement
4Q, 8:46 remaining: Covington breaks up a pass intended for Curry (Warriors 93, 76ers 81). The pass to a cutting Curry is broken up, and McConnell is fouled heading the other way. A Smith layup on the subsequent possession trims the deficit to 10.
4Q, 7:50 remaining: McConnell dishes a lob to Noel (Warriors 96, 76ers 83). The Sixers turn to their bread and butter: McConnell or Smith dribbling in circles in pick-and-rolls, and dishing lobs to Noel. It was the one offensive sequence they could run that seemed remotely difficult for the opposing team to guard. It felt like every victory this Sixers team had that season involved these oops around crunch time.
4Q, 4:53 remaining: After an incredible save from Smith, the Sixers push in transition and Thompson hits a 3 (Warriors 100, 76ers 90). The energy in the building ticks up a notch, and the Sixers are starting to feel it. Watch the ground Noel covers on the next defensive possession.
This is Noel at his very best. There’s not a center in the league that covers that sort of ground that quickly.
Out of the stoppage, we get more incredible Covington defense. He puts the clamps on Curry one-on-one, but the ball goes out off of Philadelphia. And then, in the next out-of-bounds play, Covington gets a strip/block to deny a Barnes layup. It feels — somehow — as if the eventual 73-win Warriors can’t get a thing going in the half court against these lowly Sixers.
4Q, 2:00 remaining: Covington gets a transition dunk off of a Canaan steal (Warriors 103, 76ers 95). The minutes leading up to this moment are like a wild track meet. The home crowd is antsy and waiting to explode, but Canaan misses an open 3, and Smith misses a transition layup and a free throw. Ten seconds prior to Covington’s dunk, the Warriors broadcast essentially declares the game over. Now, the Sixers are still in it, down 8 points with two minutes left.
4Q, 1:45 remaining: Curry is stripped and turns it over (Warriors 103, 76ers 95). After his dunk, Covington switches onto Curry and strips him from behind. It’s called Warriors ball, but the play is reviewed and overturned. Sixers ball.
Covington was a one-man wrecking crew in this game.
Advertisement
4Q, 1:31 remaining: Noel dunks a lob from Smith (Warriors 103, 76ers 97). Remember how lobs to Noel were the Sixers’ bread and butter? Smith draws Bogut’s attention, throws the ball a mile high in the air, and Noel runs in from the foul line to dunk it home. The comeback is officially on.
Bogut misses a layup, and Smith nails a jumper to make it a 4-point game.
4Q, 0:40 remaining: the Canaan 4-point play (Warriors 105, 76ers 103). Curry makes a driving layup on the following possession, and after a bit of aimless dribbling from Smith, Brown calls timeout to design a set play. Fading into the Warriors’ bench, Canaan swishes a 3 while getting fouled by Curry.
On the Warriors’ next possession, Canaan deflects a pass that leads to a Smith breakaway dunk. The game is tied, 105-105. It’s pandemonium at the Wells Fargo Center.
4Q, 0:00 remaining: Barnes hits the game-winning 3 (Warriors 108, 76ers 105). After the Sixers switch a Curry-Green screen, Smith goes to double-team Curry. Brown has mentioned that he has an “anybody but” rule in these situations, meaning that he’ll allow anyone but the opposing team’s best player to take the final shot. Well, Barnes makes the Sixers pay, and they’re left with only a moral victory. The video cuts out for some reason, but you all know what happens. The 2015-16 76ers lose another game.
What did this game represent for the Sixers? That no matter how large the talent deficit or how poorly constructed the roster, these Sixers still played the game the right way. Laugh all you want at the end result, but this team fought hard for those 10 wins, and also some dignified losses like this one.
As the Warriors’ broadcasters expressed throughout the game, they expected the Sixers to simply roll over. The Warriors seemed to have a similar mindset. Perhaps they underestimated Philadelphia’s stubbornness. Even though Brown’s team didn’t win, this game embodied the franchise’s spirit at the time. Regardless of the night’s outcome, the process was honorable.
Advertisement
Archives: 76ers film breakdown
(Photo of Robert Covington and Isaiah Canaan on Jan. 30, 2016: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kG9vaWlgbXxzfJFpZmlrX2aFcLzRqJqeq6Niv6bDwK2aoWWYpMRuwMeeZHBulafAbrrEmqmlsV2ZsqexwK2cnWWknbJufo9qbWaqlZi8s7CMrJytrJmjtG7DwKupoqeiqHw%3D