Speaker 1: On this particular Christmas Day, the seventy Sixers were looking
Speaker 1: for improved health and a win to go along with it.
Speaker 1: Both received in New York City one oh five ninety
Speaker 1: eight over the New York Knicks. Joel Embiid was back.
Speaker 1: JJ Reddick was back. T J McConnell was terrific, and
Speaker 1: the Sixers snap a season long five game losing streak
Speaker 1: as a result. Seven point win for the Sixers on
Speaker 1: the holiday. Brian Seltzer with you from Sixers dot com
Speaker 1: here at the garden, hoping you've had a great day
Speaker 1: and very nice that a Sixers triumph could be a
Speaker 1: part of it. Joel Embiid, Yes, he was in action
Speaker 1: Saturday in Toronto, but if you watch the game, if
Speaker 1: you listen to it, if you followed it, you could
Speaker 1: tell he wasn't quite himself. Well today he got going
Speaker 1: down the stretch of the first quarter with the jam
Speaker 1: opened up the second period in really strong fashion, finished
Speaker 1: with the team high twenty five points in team best
Speaker 1: sixteen rebounds for his fifteenth double double of the season.
Speaker 1: Plus twenty five or the Sixers when he was on
Speaker 1: the core, The same could be said for it. JJ Reddick,
Speaker 1: Reddick looked sharp, even battling some right hamstring tightness, four
Speaker 1: for eight from outside the arc. He also had six
Speaker 1: rebounds to finish with twenty four points on the evening.
Speaker 1: TJ McConnell with eight consecutive points to close out the
Speaker 1: third quarter, and Nat helped the Sixers wrestle control of
Speaker 1: this game, a game that for the early let's say
Speaker 1: two and a half periods, was really dictated by the
Speaker 1: inside play of Enis Cantor for the New York Knicks,
Speaker 1: who had a career day with thirty one points and
Speaker 1: twenty two rebounds. Sixers just could not slow him down,
Speaker 1: but he and Chris dabs Porzingis both subbed out. With
Speaker 1: about four minutes to go in the third period. Datshel
Speaker 1: McConnell stepped up and one step back jumper end of
Speaker 1: shot clock and a corner three pointer to vault the
Speaker 1: Sixers into the fourth quarter with some momentum on their side.
Speaker 1: They led by four, and they just would not back down.
Speaker 1: They rattled off a string of seven straight points in
Speaker 1: the latter stages of the worth Ben Simmons when the
Speaker 1: Knicks got a little bit closer with a runout jam
Speaker 1: to make it one h three ninety five, and at
Speaker 1: that point, with sixty six seconds to go, you kind
Speaker 1: of felt pretty decent in the Sixers would leave the
Speaker 1: Garden on a winning note. The final score one five
Speaker 1: ninety eight were standing by for the postgame press conference
Speaker 1: of head coach Brett Brown. Eighteen lead changes, eight ties
Speaker 1: in a really competitive game. But big picture, you step
Speaker 1: back the Sixers, this has been a really bumpy month
Speaker 1: for them. The schedule difficult and challenging, injuries kept piling up,
Speaker 1: and probably just almost as much as a win today,
Speaker 1: I think Brett Brown wanted to see the Sixers come
Speaker 1: out and fight, not except recent results, not except losing,
Speaker 1: and we saw that today from the outset, extremely competitive,
Speaker 1: feisty and spirited, and in the end they were rewarded
Speaker 1: with a winning outcome. Cancer was fantastic. He was a
Speaker 1: beast on the inside. Is thirty one points, a season
Speaker 1: high two rebounds his top total of the year as well.
Speaker 1: The Sixers had trouble even with him beat out there
Speaker 1: finding a solution, but to their credits, they were not phased.
Speaker 1: They kept the ball under control with some decent ball
Speaker 1: protection up until ironically the final three minutes when they
Speaker 1: turned it over on three straight possessions that made things
Speaker 1: a little bit dicey, but in the end, the Sixers
Speaker 1: survived one oh five ninety eight. Let's go to Brett
Speaker 1: Brown right now. I mean just the reality of what
Speaker 1: you don't have when they're injured. And I love our guys.
Speaker 1: They fight, they fight, but you know, you bring in
Speaker 1: Joe and JJ and the fight goes to a high level.
Speaker 1: It gives us more of a chance. And I think
Speaker 1: that although you know, you know, I'm the coach and
Speaker 1: fans see it and our teammates see it, when you
Speaker 1: actually live it in real time, it stands out that
Speaker 1: dramatically challenge that I think he was the MVP of
Speaker 1: the game, and he wears his heart on his sleeve.
Speaker 1: I have a sort of like, uh, a very um
Speaker 1: antagonistic relationship with him, Like I coach him harder than
Speaker 1: I coach anybody. And I'm just so proud of like
Speaker 1: him coming out of left field, and you know, being
Speaker 1: in the NBA and I was staying in the NBA
Speaker 1: and now playing in the NBA. He played today and
Speaker 1: I thought that his spirit, you know, apart from the
Speaker 1: other stuff, his spirit was awesome, and uh, I thought
Speaker 1: he was the most valuable player today. Obvious is that
Speaker 1: a tangible I mean the checklist even with JJ tonight,
Speaker 1: you know, we we we learned JJ late as well.
Speaker 1: There's always like a lead up that really doesn't get
Speaker 1: stamped off on until I meet the team at thirty
Speaker 1: five you know, loud Tunic games ago in Toronto, it
Speaker 1: was delivered at thirty five, you know, forty five seconds
Speaker 1: on the clock before I speak to the team at
Speaker 1: thirty five minutes. And so there is a checklist, but
Speaker 1: really the final decision is only kind of determined after
Speaker 1: he does his warm ups and he gives us you know,
Speaker 1: thumb up fam down. He cares, he doesn't want to
Speaker 1: hurt the team. And that's the process of which we
Speaker 1: go through. It's all the normal stuff that you would expect.
Speaker 1: You know, there's physiotherapists involved. Joel has a significant saying
Speaker 1: all this. There are doctors, there are people that you
Speaker 1: know are looking at sort of preloading stuff that has
Speaker 1: gone on in patterns and trends. It's all the stuff
Speaker 1: that you know we would do and should do when
Speaker 1: responsibly you're trying to preserve you know, one of our
Speaker 1: crown jewels. And it's extensive and thoughtful, and it needs
Speaker 1: to be because he's very much in his infant stages
Speaker 1: of growing into playing again. I've shared with everybody many
Speaker 1: times he doesn't seventy Sixers head coach Brett Brown following
Speaker 1: this Afternoons one oh five ninety eight Christmas Day victory,
Speaker 1: and especially at the outset of that postgame press conference,
Speaker 1: could you hear the satisfaction happiness in Brett Brown's voice.
Speaker 1: You couldn't see it. We have a monitor in front
Speaker 1: of us here at the Garden, but the smile on
Speaker 1: Brett's face and he's not what he's always got upbeat emotions,
Speaker 1: but we don't always see a wide smile. But he
Speaker 1: was talking affectionately about TJ. McConnell and what he brought
Speaker 1: to the Sixers today. It was like the father son
Speaker 1: basketball dynamic right on display there. He seemed absolutely and
Speaker 1: understandably thrilled with what McConnell gave the Sixers today. Fifteen points,
Speaker 1: especially in the latter stages of the third period, a
Speaker 1: stretch of the game that helped these Sixers wrestle control
Speaker 1: away from the Knicks. Twenty five point, sixteen rebounds and
Speaker 1: three blocks for Joel embad JJ Reddick with twenty four points,
Speaker 1: six boards, four three pointers fifteen for t J McConnell
Speaker 1: as the Sixers win on Christmas one five Tune eight.
Speaker 1: Tom McGinnis is going to be back with further thoughts
Speaker 1: in a moment. It's the postgame show from New York
Speaker 1: City on the Sixers Radio Network Holiday trip to New
Speaker 1: York City. A good and successful one for the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers on this Christmas Day one oh five ninety eight
Speaker 1: win over the Knicks, starting off the NBA's Quinn tuppleheader
Speaker 1: on a good note. Brian Seltzer from Sixers dot Com
Speaker 1: and and now vacated Garden with the exception of a
Speaker 1: handful of important people, one of which is Tom McGinnis.
Speaker 1: This was good today, Tom, real good to see Joel
Speaker 1: back there. It seemed like he really started revet up
Speaker 1: in the second quarter. JJ Reddick was locked in early,
Speaker 1: but head coach given the game ball to one t
Speaker 1: J McConnell. Right. He talked about his spirit, that spurt
Speaker 1: that I mentioned of eight consecutive points at the end
Speaker 1: of the third deflections defense getting after it. How about
Speaker 1: when he was Garden poor singers and both he and
Speaker 1: Baylis got off in pick and roll situations, had to
Speaker 1: switch out onto him. They both got into his body.
Speaker 1: He's so tall. But Jay just kind of got it,
Speaker 1: just the spirit with which he plays, and you know
Speaker 1: he ended up with some threes too, like getting the
Speaker 1: corner three right. He just he played so well. I mean,
Speaker 1: he just it's a great story. It really is when
Speaker 1: we've been through it quite a bit in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, not being considered a draft pick, didn't get drafted,
Speaker 1: and just having to prove himself and for himself. That's
Speaker 1: just how he ticks, like, you know, trying to establish
Speaker 1: the fact that he's an NBA player, and you know
Speaker 1: he is that and more. I was joking during the
Speaker 1: course of the call, or at least said it in
Speaker 1: jest about he's a nick killer. And just when you
Speaker 1: think that that basket that he helped the Sixers in
Speaker 1: January with that turnaround over Camaldo at the center, and
Speaker 1: this game here, without question, as far as Reddick goes,
Speaker 1: it's like he hits the floor running, you know, like
Speaker 1: he he had those two late turnovers, but like that
Speaker 1: ability that he could almost do that in his sleep.
Speaker 1: In terms of at the three point arc, they upfaked
Speaker 1: the side dribble the two or the three and then
Speaker 1: automatic at the line. But obviously, you know, twenty plus
Speaker 1: points by him, and Bead was great as well. And Joel,
Speaker 1: you know, like the more he plays and Lord willing
Speaker 1: he'll be able to practice at some point. I think
Speaker 1: he'll be able to clean up and tighten up some
Speaker 1: of those areas with the ball on the block when
Speaker 1: he picks up the dribble and they come to double him.
Speaker 1: But his influence, particularly defensively early was special. I didn't
Speaker 1: you think. I mean they had him for three blocks.
Speaker 1: I think he might have had more than that. But
Speaker 1: it's not safe, you know. I mean for a guy
Speaker 1: to go in there and if they do shoot it,
Speaker 1: they're they're thinking about his their cognizant of his presence.
Speaker 1: So that that's a guy who can protect that. They
Speaker 1: call that that phrase in you know the front the basketball,
Speaker 1: the rim protector. Well he is that and more. And
Speaker 1: then his foot quickness and the ability for a man
Speaker 1: of that size to get over and cut off a
Speaker 1: smaller player on a dribble drive, helping out defensively, and
Speaker 1: then to rotate back to the guy he's garden to
Speaker 1: protect the rim. That right there, in addition to the
Speaker 1: hand eye coordination, those are some of the elements that
Speaker 1: make him a real terrific defender. Six Ers beat the
Speaker 1: X on Christmas one, five ninety eight. We're around this
Speaker 1: team fortunately enough time where you can tell when Brett
Speaker 1: Brown just housing Sirius with that message he was kind
Speaker 1: of talking about after the Toronto game that you know,
Speaker 1: no one's panicking. They believe that good days add up.
Speaker 1: But certainly a win at this juncture doesn't hurt, because
Speaker 1: especially it sinks up with this whole the way Brett
Speaker 1: looks at the season in different thirds and today has
Speaker 1: traditionally started his second third of the season from Christmas
Speaker 1: to the All Star Game break, and this is an opportunity,
Speaker 1: a way to reset in some sort, right. But let's
Speaker 1: go back to the initial statement there and the comment
Speaker 1: about you know, us being around the team as reporters,
Speaker 1: and you know, the next phrase that would come to
Speaker 1: mind is the Sixers needed to win and you need
Speaker 1: to win more to you know, not just to stop
Speaker 1: them obviously, to stop a five game winnings to a
Speaker 1: losing streak, but also for the mojo, for the vibe.
Speaker 1: I mean it's you could put into good day's work,
Speaker 1: but if you're not getting rewarded with a victory in
Speaker 1: the win column and playing this hard, and it's disheartening
Speaker 1: to let things slip away. And again, this was not
Speaker 1: a perfect game by the Sixers. For much of the game.
Speaker 1: They shot in the low forties percentage wise. That's not
Speaker 1: where you'd like to be. They struggled from three at
Speaker 1: times at a rash of turnovers down the stretch when
Speaker 1: they were trying to close it out. Let Canner have
Speaker 1: a number of putbacks, but they still want Those are
Speaker 1: all things you can work on and clean up. And
Speaker 1: once you get your group back together healthy, you can
Speaker 1: begin to progress and get better and feel that you
Speaker 1: know you're making strides. But more than anything like because
Speaker 1: losing wears on people. It wears on the whole group,
Speaker 1: the coaches, the players, I mean everybody. For the podcast,
Speaker 1: well everybody loves I was coaching from the press box
Speaker 1: or two. But no, I'm joking. But you know, like
Speaker 1: you just it's a better vibe. Like I've always said,
Speaker 1: this is a little deep, but I've always feud somebody.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the degree would be in or
Speaker 1: the form of academia. But I feel like somebody should
Speaker 1: write a thesis paper on the effects of winning and losing.
Speaker 1: They just go out and interview two hundred people, you know,
Speaker 1: the wives of coaches, the players like and you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's no serious gees. People feel better when they win,
Speaker 1: no doubt. But I mean, I think it goes. It's
Speaker 1: almost deeper than that. It's just it affects everything, and
Speaker 1: it all it's just sports and entertainment, but for these guys,
Speaker 1: it's their lives. It's their livelihoods, and jobs are won
Speaker 1: or loss, and contracts are wonder loss. There's just there's
Speaker 1: just so much to it. But obviously it feels good
Speaker 1: for the Sixers, and particularly here in New York on
Speaker 1: this stage on Christmas Day, it made it even that
Speaker 1: much better. Real nice Division win for the Sixers. And
Speaker 1: now it's a bit of a reprieve for the next
Speaker 1: couple of days until Thursday, when the team will be
Speaker 1: out at Moda Center in Portland too, heading the guts
Speaker 1: of this five game road trip on the West Coast,
Speaker 1: and then it's off to Denver and Phoenix. And that
Speaker 1: gets to my point, just to keep Brian to keep talking, Yes,
Speaker 1: but you know you're flying, You're going across the country,
Speaker 1: You're going out west. You want to you want to
Speaker 1: take on Phoenix. Denver is one of the people. Don't
Speaker 1: realize Denver is really good. You played Portland, you beat them,
Speaker 1: and that's what I mean. You feel a little better
Speaker 1: about yourselves going on that west coast trip and have
Speaker 1: a major chunk of your far out travel, the Western
Speaker 1: conference travel completed by the first of the year. I
Speaker 1: don't know that that's ever happened before, so you know,
Speaker 1: and then now you get the other than the back
Speaker 1: to back in Phoenix. You got the schedule spaced out
Speaker 1: a little bit, so Joel should get to play. But
Speaker 1: all a nice day here in tense victory for the
Speaker 1: Sixers over there are tribals, as you say, the Knicks
Speaker 1: and joy the rest of the daytime. Thank you, Brian Gooday.
Speaker 1: Seventy Sixers over the Knicks on Christmas one O five
Speaker 1: to ninety eight times highlight calls coming up after this,
Speaker 1: it's the postgame showing the Sixers rating network. Seventy sixers
Speaker 1: in New York City to celebrate Christmas Day a great
Speaker 1: place to be. But for the Sixers this was business
Speaker 1: trying to get back on track with a win. In
Speaker 1: the first quarter, you could tell this was going to
Speaker 1: be a closely contested Atlantic Division rivalry game. Joel and Bad,
Speaker 1: who played on Saturday in Toronto and didn't quite seem
Speaker 1: like himself, seemed to get his rhythm going on this
Speaker 1: key sequence late in the first twenty two sixties. So
Speaker 1: now they have changed the score. Here we go Beat
Speaker 1: down low and be with a jam stepped around Kyla
Speaker 1: Quinn deep post up position, and the field goal is
Speaker 1: good by Joelle and Band. So it's twenty two to eighteen.
Speaker 1: That's the second asket for him. Beat. He's played eight
Speaker 1: minutes and he had great footwork on that play to
Speaker 1: get inside and slam at home. Twenty four to twenty one.
Speaker 1: Nicks were in front after one quarter of play. In
Speaker 1: the second, the Sixers starting to step it up. Dario
Speaker 1: Scharch with some important contributions to get the Sixers in
Speaker 1: the lead. JJ Reddick back in action, added to it.
Speaker 1: Twelve to shoot. Joel is fronted by Cantor and now
Speaker 1: he comes up to get it back to Reddick. Eight
Speaker 1: on o'clock JJ for a three shot falling outside is good.
Speaker 1: JJ Reddick has made his second three and beat with
Speaker 1: the dish, and the Sixers have gone in front by
Speaker 1: a point forty seven forty six, and they would lead
Speaker 1: by two fifty to forty eight going into intermission. For
Speaker 1: the Sixers in quarter at number three, they continued to
Speaker 1: have issues with Enis Cantor, but Joel Embiid he helped
Speaker 1: set a positive tone for the Sixers at the outset
Speaker 1: of the period, and that would be the case as
Speaker 1: well in the home stretch of quarter number three as well.
Speaker 1: McDermott with a shot flock by Comington and Baylis gets
Speaker 1: the ball. J's in there, Joel's out there and a
Speaker 1: Bead is gonna try to run to the block, but
Speaker 1: first he screens TJ with a leaning shot rimming up
Speaker 1: no tap bying Bead is good, Joella being inside position
Speaker 1: on Cantor and a rebound follow up the miss bike
Speaker 1: TJ nineteen make that twenty one and eleven four him
Speaker 1: bead for him Bead. That was his second straight basket
Speaker 1: the Sixers line at seventy one to sixty eight. Moments later,
Speaker 1: after two free throws, Cantor was taken out of the game,
Speaker 1: and that's when t J McConnell really upped his attitude.
Speaker 1: Five on four sixers with them ball t J at
Speaker 1: Covington up top aatas Oh, he passed up an open three.
Speaker 1: Now TJ with an open three in the quarter, and
Speaker 1: that's good McConnell. He's leading the Sixers. It's seventy nine,
Speaker 1: seventy three, eight straight points for the Pittsburgh native TJ. McConnell.
Speaker 1: A case of good to great for the Sixers and
Speaker 1: McConnell with that passing seventy nine seventy five sixers in
Speaker 1: front going into the fourth, the Knicks would not go away.
Speaker 1: Despite the fact the Sixers had taken eight point lead
Speaker 1: on a Jared Baylis three eighty nine eighty one. They
Speaker 1: got another pivotal contribution from outside the arc from yet
Speaker 1: another veteran member of the roster and be with a
Speaker 1: rebound Sixers with numbers TJ with a bull and now
Speaker 1: to the right side, JJ Reddick for three out of transition,
Speaker 1: got it. JJ Reddick knocks it down. Mccono dishes. Reddick
Speaker 1: scores Sixers by seven with three and a half to go. Reddick,
Speaker 1: now with twenty two in the game, is four to three,
Speaker 1: ninety six to eighty nine. The Sixers were not yet
Speaker 1: done from beyond the arc well a difficult place to
Speaker 1: inbound from, and with three seconds on the shot clock.
Speaker 1: Here here's a bet catching shooting shot here for three.
Speaker 1: That's good, that could be the game winner Christmas Day.
Speaker 1: Joe Ellen be knocking down to three Sixers up by
Speaker 1: a one on one ninety three and just for good
Speaker 1: measure to leave little to no doubt in this one
Speaker 1: this afternoon, the Sixers produce a very important turnover. Here's
Speaker 1: port sing Us into a trap at us by Simmons,
Speaker 1: a breakout Ben Simmons is all win the game. Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons dunks it. Jeff Horn sec Takes time a double
Speaker 1: on poor Singers by McConnell and charge. Ben with that anticipation,
Speaker 1: breaks down, steals it, drives left the right and dunks it.
Speaker 1: And the Sixers up eight with sixty six seconds to go,
Speaker 1: and that would help see these Sixers to the finish
Speaker 1: line in this seven point win this afternoon. Final notes
Speaker 1: from the final stat sheet. Six or shot forty two
Speaker 1: percent from the field, the knicks forty and a half percent.
Speaker 1: Six Ers ten of twenty nine outside the arc. New
Speaker 1: York was four of fifteen. The sixers got to the
Speaker 1: free throw line and hit their shots twenty five or
Speaker 1: thirty from the stripe. The next eighteen of twenty eight
Speaker 1: sixers were plus three on the glass. That helped, as
Speaker 1: did keeping the turnovers down relatively speaking to just fifteen.
Speaker 1: That a big improvement from recent games. Game high scoring
Speaker 1: and rebounding total belonged to Ennis Cancer thirty one points,
Speaker 1: twenty two boards sixers, led by Joel Embiide with twenty
Speaker 1: five and sixteen is fifteenth double double. JJ Reddick with
Speaker 1: twenty four, a career high for him Christmas Day. This
Speaker 1: was his eighth Christmas Day game. Cannot overlook t J
Speaker 1: McConnell with fifteen off the bench and that guy Ben
Speaker 1: Sevens with that punctuation point with the jam added eight points,
Speaker 1: eight rebounds and also three assists, eighteen lead changes, eight
Speaker 1: ties in a two hour, twenty seven minute Christmas Day
Speaker 1: game in front of a salad crowd of nineteen thousand,
Speaker 1: eight hundred twelve six ers. With the winner now fifteen
Speaker 1: and eight, the Knicks fall to seventeen and sixteen on
Speaker 1: the year.