Speaker 1: You're listening to rewind, they'll listen back on press conferences,
Speaker 1: highlights and analysis from the seventy sixers previous game. A
Speaker 1: most impressive shorthanded victory for the seventy Sixers one to
Speaker 1: nine ninety eight over the Boston Celtics for the first
Speaker 1: time since two thirteen fourteen to seventy Sixers clinch a
Speaker 1: regular season series victory over their arch rivals. They've also
Speaker 1: won four in a row versus Boston in the regular
Speaker 1: season for the first time since two thousand and two
Speaker 1: thousand and two. I'm Brian Seltzer right now. We had
Speaker 1: two the postgame press conference podium and Burrett Brown, you know,
Speaker 1: with that may be able to be cashed in at
Speaker 1: some point, if at all, But we in our eyes
Speaker 1: in January like this was kind of a unique game.
Speaker 1: And I think Josh Richardson in the absence of Joe
Speaker 1: l Embiide and we have a chance here at home,
Speaker 1: which we what are we seventeen and two? Here at
Speaker 1: home now eighteen and two? We wanted to keep that
Speaker 1: momentum going. I think Josh drove that he was a
Speaker 1: bell ring and tonight and I thought it started with
Speaker 1: just his mindset, his mentality as much as whatever statistics
Speaker 1: came out of that attitude. A lot of trouble with
Speaker 1: in the past, as you mentioned, you're out three and
Speaker 1: all against them, this year being different ways with different people.
Speaker 1: What do you think has changing? Um, I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't I don't know. It's like they're
Speaker 1: roster has changed. Our roster has changed. I don't know,
Speaker 1: like maybe we could should just start there. I do
Speaker 1: feel like I do feel like we're starting to not
Speaker 1: just against Boston. I don't want to over play this.
Speaker 1: I just feel like we're starting to get an idea
Speaker 1: of the first question. I'm just more purposeful, like offense
Speaker 1: taking an unusual sort of you know, physical skill set
Speaker 1: team and learning how to best place it. I thought
Speaker 1: al horfid tonight both sides of the ball, you know,
Speaker 1: gave us life and toughness and offensive rebounding. And I
Speaker 1: just think that this year is evolution. Tim is born
Speaker 1: out of that, Like what's starting to feel stuff and
Speaker 1: get more familiar in relation to what's the difference with Boston,
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's like that that's part of the league.
Speaker 1: I think Ben. You put Ben in and started setting
Speaker 1: corn as a backup center. He was all over the
Speaker 1: place in the paint. Yeah, And in terms of attacking,
Speaker 1: what was kind of your thought process with that small
Speaker 1: ball out for him et center and what did you
Speaker 1: think over all the way to like I mean, I've
Speaker 1: always been curious, you know, I've always been curious of
Speaker 1: what that could look like. And he's we we've seen
Speaker 1: over the past, you know what, three weeks I have
Speaker 1: put him in a lot of screening action, like as
Speaker 1: the screener, and you can see he's a dynamic roller.
Speaker 1: He can go get lobs, he can catch pocket passes,
Speaker 1: he can find you know, people in corners, and so
Speaker 1: in that world if you just sort of like zoom into,
Speaker 1: he's been a screen set up. If you put shooters
Speaker 1: around him and give somebody to can runt a pick
Speaker 1: and roll, well let's call him the five in its
Speaker 1: true in that environment, he was I thought were I
Speaker 1: thought he was. He was good. I don't know what
Speaker 1: the umbas beer out. I thought he was good. But
Speaker 1: it's something we've just tried. I thought Norvelle coming in,
Speaker 1: you know, really gave us that thing that I'm talking
Speaker 1: about with screening rolling. And I thought we even missed
Speaker 1: him a few times as Jay Rich was playing cross
Speaker 1: back game. But I have wanted to try Ben at five.
Speaker 1: We did, and uh, I suspect you'll see it again.
Speaker 1: Talk about that. And we were talking about the theme
Speaker 1: before the game. The guys were saying next man up, like,
Speaker 1: you know, we know Joel's down, but it's all about
Speaker 1: next man up, you talk about collectively the center spot
Speaker 1: where Norvelle played a great game. Al had a good game.
Speaker 1: You know, Ben gave us some buckets exactly, but you know,
Speaker 1: it just seemed like at that five position, you know,
Speaker 1: you position at the final position, you guys, you know
Speaker 1: they played well. I think they did, and we had
Speaker 1: to you know, you got Joe. We just we just
Speaker 1: did a post game sort of bell ringing ceremony and
Speaker 1: I look over one of the players shoulders and I
Speaker 1: can see Elton's holding Joel on FaceTime. And so we
Speaker 1: were able from New York to include him, which is
Speaker 1: always a good thing. And when you're missing Joel, you
Speaker 1: better have some people, you know, do what Novelle did.
Speaker 1: And Ben in his limited minutes and Al horfed, you know,
Speaker 1: was was huge all over the place. And it's true,
Speaker 1: it was a next man up. We had to find
Speaker 1: something to take that massive void that Joel left seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers get the win of the Boston Celtics one O
Speaker 1: nine ninety eight. How about that anecdote from Brett Brown
Speaker 1: that was awesome that Elton Brand had Joel Embiid on
Speaker 1: FaceTime in the locker room for the postgame bell ringing.
Speaker 1: How cool is that the reason why Joel Embiid was
Speaker 1: on FaceTime and not there in person. If you missed
Speaker 1: the news before the game, Joel Embiid is going to
Speaker 1: undergo surgery on his left hand tomorrow. The seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: will have an update in a week to two weeks time.
Speaker 1: They announced that before the game, about forty five minutes
Speaker 1: before off, and then immediately right out of the gate,
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson, as Brett Brown articulated, provided a terrific spark.
Speaker 1: He scored thirteen of his twenty nine points in tonight's
Speaker 1: opening quarter. Fourteen of his final sixteen came in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, including the sixers first six to begin the fourth.
Speaker 1: He was so huge in helping the seventy Sixers get
Speaker 1: by the Boston Celtics tonight. But how about this in
Speaker 1: a game they were shorthanded, a game in which pregame
Speaker 1: there was an understandable vibe of uncertainty. Yeah, the players
Speaker 1: are talking about next man up, but you know, no
Speaker 1: one really knew or even at this moment quite frankly
Speaker 1: knows the extent of what Joel's injury is going to be.
Speaker 1: He is your top player. And the Sixers come out,
Speaker 1: they have a great determined attitude about themselves. Late in
Speaker 1: the game, their offense. How about this for a test.
Speaker 1: You up against the fourth best defense in the league,
Speaker 1: in the Boston Celtics, and your offense is being tasked
Speaker 1: with executing and hey, recent weeks, I think everyone's seen
Speaker 1: that the has been going through some things. Sixers get
Speaker 1: their looks, they execute on them, and the defense was
Speaker 1: stout and crunch time. Ben Simmons great second half, closed strong.
Speaker 1: He had that really important defensive play, a steal with
Speaker 1: about three minutes to go that ultimately led to Josh
Speaker 1: Richardson going to the line back. They're the way to
Speaker 1: put the Sixers up by seven to Simmons, finishing with
Speaker 1: nineteen points, nine rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Seventeen
Speaker 1: for al Horford, he also had eight boards and six assists.
Speaker 1: Horford with a key late jumper on the baseline. He
Speaker 1: also had a big stop on Marcus Smart. Tobias Harris
Speaker 1: picked it up gave the Sixers a lift in the
Speaker 1: third quarter. He finished with sixteen points. You know the
Speaker 1: bench for the guys who were in there, they had moments,
Speaker 1: especially fur Concorkmas Norvelle Pell outstanding. They gave him two blocks,
Speaker 1: I had him for three six points, four rebounds. Seventy
Speaker 1: sixers a race of fifteen point deficit in the first
Speaker 1: half and go on to win it by eleven, which
Speaker 1: ended being their largest lead at any point in the night.
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson leading the way with twenty nine points. The
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers clamped down on the Celtics wings. Jalen Brown
Speaker 1: and Jason Tatum combined to go just six for twenty
Speaker 1: five from the field and three for nine from outside
Speaker 1: the ark. Pretty minimal effect from those two. Kemba Walker
Speaker 1: at twenty six. Marcus Smart he was a problem. He
Speaker 1: had twenty four off the bench. But the seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: outscore the Celtics thirty two, eighteen and the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: and overall in the second half they outscore the Celtics
Speaker 1: by eighteen to win this one one o nine to
Speaker 1: ninety eight. Seventy six Ers have won two in a row.
Speaker 1: They are now twenty five and fourteen, Boston is twenty
Speaker 1: five and eleven, and the seventy Sixers have closed within
Speaker 1: a game and a half of the Atlantic Division lead.
Speaker 1: Let's see if we can hear a little bit of
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons postgame, specifically defensively. Yeah, I think he had
Speaker 1: one of his better defensive games tonight, coming up a
Speaker 1: little bit more and being effect with his hands and
Speaker 1: getting in there. You know, every I think everybody played
Speaker 1: a huge role tonight. You know, obviously that's why we
Speaker 1: got to win. But I'll definitely, you know, played a
Speaker 1: great game. Ben Simmons with some postgame thoughts on the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers win of the Boston Celtics tonight, one nine
Speaker 1: ninety eight. We're bringing Tom McGinnis right now. You know, Tom,
Speaker 1: I probably should not be in the business or get
Speaker 1: into the business of ranking wins or anything like that.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously Christmas Day against the Bucks was great,
Speaker 1: but as far as like bigger symbolism and how this
Speaker 1: one happened, I mean, tonight was absolutely an awesome performance
Speaker 1: by the team, no doubt about it. And you're right
Speaker 1: day one game at a time there, Brian. But it
Speaker 1: is a huge victory, no doubt about it. That it
Speaker 1: comes against Boston or ahead of you in the standings,
Speaker 1: and like you know, we've emphasized and you don't want
Speaker 1: to make too much of it, but it is in
Speaker 1: fact a series victory over them, and that the Sixers
Speaker 1: have now won three of the four with the one
Speaker 1: game remaining in Boston. But just to circle back to
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons and hearing that he had an edge tonight,
Speaker 1: I thought he really did that. You know, you could
Speaker 1: see it a couple of times where he stood over
Speaker 1: Ham a walker, and I thought he was very aggressive.
Speaker 1: That jump hook he made at the end that was
Speaker 1: part of the exclamation point, if you will, if the
Speaker 1: Sixers making sure they won this game was really big.
Speaker 1: And a couple of the plays he made, like I said,
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta remember, this is an athletic stage
Speaker 1: where we're looking at it's empty now, but he covered
Speaker 1: the floor and roamed back to make a steal and
Speaker 1: you're just like, WHOA. You just have to sit back
Speaker 1: and watch it in amazement. The athletic feet and prowess
Speaker 1: that he put on display. Just an incredible game. And
Speaker 1: again you had tremendous performances from the likes of Horford,
Speaker 1: obviously Josh Richardson. He came out and the Sixers were
Speaker 1: eight of ten out of the gate. They were shooting
Speaker 1: eighty five percent from the field, and then they hit
Speaker 1: a tailspin toward the end that he opening quote, Boston
Speaker 1: went on a sixteen to four run. And the only
Speaker 1: thing you're thinking, and Boston was hot with Walker getting thirteen,
Speaker 1: is that again this part about they played last night,
Speaker 1: and you know, the back to backs are part of it.
Speaker 1: Coaches will poop poo it a little bit, but it matters.
Speaker 1: They st but they weren't nearly as hot down the stretch.
Speaker 1: And again, it's not like they flew cross country. They
Speaker 1: came down from Boston. It's an hour flight. But they
Speaker 1: played last night. You get to bed later. It's just
Speaker 1: it throws you off your routine. It's it's a part,
Speaker 1: it's a factor of life in the NBA, but it's
Speaker 1: clearly more difficult in winning a night number two, whereas
Speaker 1: the Sixers were arrested and they play with the energy
Speaker 1: in the fight and they you did it. You mentioned
Speaker 1: it was a special victory, and it sure is anytime
Speaker 1: you beat the Celtics one the final score seventy six
Speaker 1: Ers over the seas. Norville Pell time. I you know,
Speaker 1: there were great performances by some regulars, but I'm I'm
Speaker 1: going to our guy, Norvelle. He was awesome tonight and
Speaker 1: he's like, hey, here's a chance for someone to step
Speaker 1: up in his Brett likes to say, raise their hand
Speaker 1: for an opportunity. I mean, these could be back up
Speaker 1: two minutes. I'm sorry, backup five minutes for Norvelle Pell right,
Speaker 1: And just to carry over on that point, Brett Brown,
Speaker 1: you know you're talking about raise your hand. It's you know,
Speaker 1: the front part of that equation is the gym will
Speaker 1: speak to him and that is you know, during training camp.
Speaker 1: But it's a season went him along and Ville is
Speaker 1: a different player than he was when he was signed
Speaker 1: by the Blue Coats five years ago. He's gotten a
Speaker 1: lot of experience. He's also played overseas overseas during this time.
Speaker 1: And you know when you when you looked at that
Speaker 1: DAAs in, I guess it was July when the Sixers
Speaker 1: signed all these players, and up there was Kyle O'Quinn,
Speaker 1: and you know, you would have thought he would have
Speaker 1: been the guy and the natural guy to be to
Speaker 1: be the third big backup and in this situation, to
Speaker 1: be the first big off the bench wall. To your point,
Speaker 1: it's Norvelle pell and that's why he was a tremendous
Speaker 1: job of blocking shots. He's quick off the floor, he's
Speaker 1: obviously got great hand eye coordination. Not an easy skill set,
Speaker 1: but rim protection is something every team looks for. And
Speaker 1: then oh, by the way, when you can throw it
Speaker 1: up to him and dunk it, he did a terrific job.
Speaker 1: The rest of it is, you know, guarding your position
Speaker 1: and screening and rebounding and you know, and running the floor,
Speaker 1: and he was. He was really good in that backup role. Tonight,
Speaker 1: seventy six ers over the Celtics one nine clinched a
Speaker 1: regular season series versus Boston for the first time since
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen fourteen, and this amazing time. It's something that
Speaker 1: you know, we've been around Brett Brown since that year,
Speaker 1: for the last seven years, and you pick up and
Speaker 1: kind of internalize certain sayings of his but it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, what a week, what a difference a week
Speaker 1: can make in the NBA. And this time last week
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers were in No Not so Great Land,
Speaker 1: and right now it's a totally different outlook. You're within
Speaker 1: a game and a half of the division lead, right
Speaker 1: and you look back to all these you think about
Speaker 1: the competition. Now you go on the road, and you
Speaker 1: play Dallas right in Dallas, and you play Indiana where
Speaker 1: you just lost so and then you consider Miami Orlando
Speaker 1: has given the Sixers problems. That was a road game,
Speaker 1: and then obviously Milwaukee and Boston so and there, and
Speaker 1: again there's no easy games in the NBA. But this
Speaker 1: has been a particularly tough stretch for the Sixers. But
Speaker 1: to your point, dropping four games in a row, and
Speaker 1: you know a stretch where they had had a three
Speaker 1: game losing street even before that. And now you come
Speaker 1: back and beat a really hot Oklahoma team and would
Speaker 1: argue the hottest team in the league up until that
Speaker 1: game on Monday, and a huge victory here and now
Speaker 1: you got to go out and back it up on
Speaker 1: the road and try to get a victory. And again
Speaker 1: the Sixers have to navigate, this time without embad. They
Speaker 1: did it tonight and now they have to find a
Speaker 1: way over the next couple of weeks and whatever it
Speaker 1: turns out to be after Joel has surgery. But as
Speaker 1: you said, that was a really neat thing to hear
Speaker 1: that Elton Brand was facetiming Joel as he awaits that
Speaker 1: surgery tomorrow in New York. And that's that's that's part
Speaker 1: of culture. That's what the Sixers are building here where
Speaker 1: everybody's in. I mean, that's got to be a difficult scenario.
Speaker 1: You have to feel for Embid here he is once
Speaker 1: again having surgery and not with the team as they
Speaker 1: take on their arch rivals. He so much wants to
Speaker 1: be out there, so your heart has to go out
Speaker 1: to him. But we're nice job there by eb keeping
Speaker 1: the Joel Ebid in the mix. Certainly be thinking of
Speaker 1: Joel Embiad with that surgery up coming tomorrow and update
Speaker 1: on him in a week or two. But an inspiring
Speaker 1: performance by the seventy six Ers tonight they beat the
Speaker 1: Celtics one, nine ninety eight. Tom Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Seventy Sixers wrapping up a brief two game homes and
Speaker 1: tonight against the Boston Celtics. They were looking for a
Speaker 1: season series win over their arch nemesis, and also looking
Speaker 1: to set a positive tone in light of the news
Speaker 1: that Joel Embiide will be out for at least one
Speaker 1: to two weeks following surgery on his left hand, which
Speaker 1: is coming up tomorrow. The seventy Sixers got off to
Speaker 1: a really aggressive start, led by Ben Simmons and Josh Richardson.
Speaker 1: In quarter number one, Harris with it at the file,
Speaker 1: live back up to Ben Simmons in the lane. Simmons
Speaker 1: adjusted puts it up in the right hand. So the
Speaker 1: answer is will he be able to get down low
Speaker 1: an attack. So far, so good for Simmons. Three field
Speaker 1: goals and they've all been right at the room. Seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers took a seventeen sixteen lead, but after a quarter
Speaker 1: was the Boston Celtics which finished strong. They went up
Speaker 1: thirty five to twenty six, so that man, it was
Speaker 1: an uphill battle for pretty much the rest of the
Speaker 1: first half of the Sixers. James Ennis the third made
Speaker 1: things a little bit tighter in the second quarter. Al
Speaker 1: Horford in the lane, He's doubled. Kick out Ennis wide open,
Speaker 1: jatte three ball, got it. It's good. James Ennis with
Speaker 1: his first field goal of the game, or with his
Speaker 1: third assists Sixers fifth, three and now seven straight by Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: and they cut it to eighth and moments later and
Speaker 1: it's the third hit another three to make it a
Speaker 1: three point game, fifty one to forty eight. The Boston
Speaker 1: Celtics would score the final four points of the first half.
Speaker 1: They took a fifty five forty eight lead into the
Speaker 1: locker room. Tobias Harris had sixteen points in the game.
Speaker 1: He was really productive in the third. Harris has it
Speaker 1: Harris online on Tice again. He went for the jam,
Speaker 1: didn't get the dupe, but he put it in. Tobias
Speaker 1: Harris goes right at Tice. How the Sixers have taken
Speaker 1: a day at eleven oh run and they're feeling it
Speaker 1: here at Philadelphia on their feet with a sellout crowd.
Speaker 1: Celtics took time out. Seventy Sixers let at that point
Speaker 1: fifty nine to fifty seven. A man named Norvelle Pell,
Speaker 1: two way player for the seventy Sixers, was great tonight.
Speaker 1: Off the bench. He was the second big man up
Speaker 1: essentially behind Al Horford. He was punishing the rim at
Speaker 1: both ends the court, sevens throws, away, but at sevens
Speaker 1: with a remarkable comeback, he picks it off and now
Speaker 1: he races down the court. Sevens. Don't look past Hell
Speaker 1: catch us in left hand layout, Norvel Pell. He puts
Speaker 1: it up and then we are watching athletic feats here
Speaker 1: on this plane surface that are incredible. Northville Pell made
Speaker 1: it seventy seven seventy four. The Celtics would still lead
Speaker 1: eighty to seventy seven going into the fourth quarter. Josh
Speaker 1: Richardson scored the first six points of the fourth for
Speaker 1: the Sixers. Side out for the Sixers, and now Grant
Speaker 1: Williams is trying to three quarter. Al Horford wants it.
Speaker 1: He taps it back to richards and Richards down on
Speaker 1: a drive. Patty jabs it and that's what led to
Speaker 1: the basket. They were preoccupied with Horford for con Corkmas
Speaker 1: the Big Three midway through the fourth to kip the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers in front. Late game offense for the Sixers
Speaker 1: was really good to Bias Harris, the pivotal jumper batist
Speaker 1: Stible found Ben Simmons inside for a score and then
Speaker 1: with time winding down, Al Horford helped put his former
Speaker 1: team away. Final dail right here. If the Sixers could
Speaker 1: score inside. Petter Horford, he has us back to the basket.
Speaker 1: He spins by the shoot. Jawn Stuff shoots it out, tights,
Speaker 1: it's up and good. Al Harford strikes baseline right one
Speaker 1: oh five ninety four sees looking at what could be
Speaker 1: the third straight laws just a little bit farther back
Speaker 1: on that very same baseline where another fellow whose name
Speaker 1: we won't mention, had a very big shot against the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics last March. Only fitting that a man named
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson put the kaffer on this one. Richardson's gonna
Speaker 1: get the ball and the Sixers are gonna big Boston.
Speaker 1: But two hands laf my Josh Richardson. Fittingly enough, he
Speaker 1: has twenty nine points and the Sixers are leading one
Speaker 1: O nine ninety eight. YEP, A great night down here
Speaker 1: at the Center. Seventy Sixers win it one nine ninety
Speaker 1: eight in front of a sellout crowd of twenty thousand,
Speaker 1: eight hundred twenty two. That's a good turn out. Josh
Speaker 1: Richardson with a team high twenty nine. He also had
Speaker 1: three rebounds and seven assists. Ben Simmons with nineteen points
Speaker 1: nine rebounds three times, seventeen points for al Horford to
Speaker 1: go with eight boards, six assists, sixteen points, seven rebounds,
Speaker 1: three assists, two steals for Tobias Harris off the bench,
Speaker 1: nine for fir Con Quorkmas and six apiece for James
Speaker 1: Ennis the third and Norvelle pell Nice to see him.
Speaker 1: Matis Steibelback didn't hit a shot, he did have five rebounds,
Speaker 1: two assists and a steal. In tonight's game, he was
Speaker 1: plus seven in just under nineteen minutes. Seventy Sixers got
Speaker 1: to the free throw line a little bit more frequently
Speaker 1: than Boston. That was important. They also had a great
Speaker 1: rebounding second half to finish the game, plus ten on
Speaker 1: the glass. They outscored the Celtics fifty to thirty eight
Speaker 1: in the paint and nineteen to seven on fast break points.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to rewind. Look out for fresh episodes
Speaker 1: the day after every seventy Sixers game this season.