WEBVTT - Top Takeaways, Moments From the Season's First Half 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.800 The NBA's annual All Star Game break has arrived, and 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:05.840 there's no better time of the year to do some 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:10.040 midseason reflect Oh man, what a black God twice had 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.960 a Sixers are gonna be fights had Simmons scores it again. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.800 Simmons has got thirty four errors on the boards. Right 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.720 hand shot, remedy round d good dad, I'll do it. 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.960 The seventy Sixers aren't gonna beat the Laker's heir. Get 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.479 build it out. We'll look back on the biggest moments, themes, 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.480 and developments from the unofficial first half of the season, 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:32.240 plus talk to a kid who's helped lead the ttp 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:36.360 cause at a local high school on this episode of 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:43.320 the broadcast, what's going on out there? Seventy six Ers 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:48.400 pive people happy, All Star Break, seventy Sixers arriving at 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:52.479 the break on a pretty good note, right, swept a 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.320 three game homestand culminating with a big win over the 0:00:56.400 --> 0:01:02.240 LA Clippers on Tuesday nights and a week. It's certainly 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:04.959 a long period of time in the NBA. I mean 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:08.880 you think of the tone surrounding the Sixers when they 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.399 got home from that winless owned four road trip, and 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.959 this isn't to say that anyone should look past that, 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.240 but come back home get three wins against a couple 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:23.360 of quality teams Memphis and the Clippers also beat the 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:28.160 struggling Chicago Bulls, and right now the Sixers, all things considered, 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:32.520 they're doing all right. We're going to revisit some of 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.880 the big moments from the unofficial first half of the 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.840 season now that the All Star break is here. But 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.240 per usual, I want to give you some reminders at 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:42.800 the start of the podcast that to subscribe to our feed, 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:47.000 you can go to anywhere you get your podcasts. That 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:54.800 could be Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, tune in, Pandora, 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.320 wherever it is. Just type in Sixers podcast Network or 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.120 seventy Sixers podcast and that will take you to our feed. 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:07.000 And also this news bolden related to the pod coming 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:11.399 your way. Starting April fools, no joke, we are going 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:15.560 to put our rewind episodes of the podcast on a 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:19.560 separate feed. So currently right now you get episodes of 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.919 the broadcast and Rewind on the same feed, which is 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:25.560 this one, But starting April first, there's going to be 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:29.480 a separate feed for Rewind episodes only, and then this 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.160 feed would be where you would continue to come to 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.360 get episodes of the broadcast and maybe a couple new 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.919 shows we might have in the work. So I'll be 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.400 giving some reminders about that as we move towards April 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:46.160 the first All right, stepping back, surface level view, high level, 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.880 big picture takeaways. Right now about the seventy six Ers. 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.040 They played fifty five games, they have twenty seven games 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.920 to go. They're thirty four and twenty one. They are 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.239 in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, just one and 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:03.840 a half games behind the fourth place Miami Heat. The 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.320 Sixers are the best home team in the NBA with 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.960 a record of twenty five and two. They are among 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.760 the league leaders in defense as we check in as 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.120 it stands at the All Star break, the Sixers are 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:18.320 fourth in the NBA in defensive rating. Yes, there's the 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.680 nine and nineteen road record, not to be excused, not 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:25.000 to be bypassed, but again, I think big picture, there's 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:27.600 a lot to feel good about in respect of the Sixers, 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.520 especially when you account for the fact that they have 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.960 at least one win, if not more than one, and 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.920 above that, some convincing wins against the top four teams 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.800 in each Conference in the East, that's the Bucks, the Raptors, 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.200 the Celtics, and the Heat. By the way, you think 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.880 the Atlantic Division could be a little bit more difficult, right, 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.119 I mean, how about that you have three teams out 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.240 of the Atlantic and the top five of the East, 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:57.960 and then the Sixers have also beaten at least once 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:02.280 Los Angeles Lakers for Nuggets, the LA Clippers, and the 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.600 Utah Jazz, which are the one through four teams out West. 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:08.280 So I think that even though the four game road 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:12.240 trip was a tough taste to have in the mouth, 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.440 the Sixers came back home, did what they needed to do, 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.240 and they built some momentum going into the All Star 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.760 Game break. So I want to revisit some of the 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:23.760 top moments, at least to me, from this unofficial first 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.640 half of the season, and I think we have to 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:32.800 start in the Pacific Northwest Portland, Oregon, November second, the 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:37.080 seventy sixers off to a great start and they played 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.919 a game that in recent history has been one of 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.080 the most memorable for the seventy Sixers. And wouldn't you 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.560 know that the hero who emerged on that night is 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.520 a guy who has been tearing it up as of late. 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.480 Richardson on the drive here the lane, back out to 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:54.080 Ennis three. Nope, he's gonna step into the left wing area, 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.880 back out to Josh for three. It's god. Josh Richardson 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:58.840 knocked out of three, the tenth made trouble of the 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.440 game by the Sixers, and it's now a three point game. 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.440 Fifty seconds to go. Josh Richardson in the lay back 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:06.200 out to alp he tries by one man in the 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:10.320 my Hey Chapton. L. Harford makes it a one point game. Hey, 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.880 right hand throwd ass Simmons looking hark Bots at the quarter. 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.520 He's open, he shoots it. It's good for God, Carkbot. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:19.800 It's a shot to put the sections of the day. 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.599 Portland has four tenths of a second. It's a one 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:27.080 point lead, like even like still, I don't know how 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.640 to feel, you know, how to act. It was like 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.120 the biggest shot in my career, you know. But I 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.320 knew that H. L. Horford, he's gonna set a good 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:36.800 pig and then trying to get me open, you know. 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.480 And then that's why I enough the game. I got 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.560 him back to make the shot, you know, and then 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:44.840 I was wide open. I just let it fly and 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.800 then I made it. That was also whos comeback? You know, 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.919 uh from comeback from double digits, you know, Prtland lighting 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.560 made a lot of shots and then from Who's comeback 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.159 to make the like buzzer better and they get the 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:03.559 w's like incredible. It's like a precursor perhaps of things 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.280 to come for fur Con cork Mose going off for 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:11.360 the game winner eleven points at Portland in November second, 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:13.840 which was the final win for the seventy sixers in 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:17.000 their winning streak of five straight games to start the season. 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.160 But Furkon played well on the rest of that West 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.599 Coast trip. He also had a twenty point game the 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.080 following game on the road against the Phoenix Suns. And 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.719 over the course of this season in which the seventy 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:30.840 sixers have been trying to figure out what to do 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:35.320 in their wing rotation, whether it's with Furkon, Matisse, Thybel 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.160 James and it's the third when he was here, Furkon 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:43.320 has had really good flashes, especially since the calendar flipped 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:46.440 to two twenty. There was a twenty four point game 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:49.479 at home against the Chicago Bulls, which you're thinking, like, 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:53.440 how does furkn top that? Well, of course, a month later, 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.400 with the Sixers coming back home after that winless four 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.080 game road trip, needing some sort of shot in the arm, 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:03.760 furk goes crazy for thirty four against the Memphis Grizzlies, 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:07.120 following that up with a thirty one point performance against 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.480 these Chicago Bulls right before the Clippers came to town 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.800 for the final game before the break. So for me, 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:15.880 Furkon cork Mos not just with the game winner in 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.040 Portland being a great story, but also the fact that 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:21.280 that was an indicator that this would be a different 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:24.280 type of fur Con cork Mos perhaps this season as 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.320 he's back for the Sixers for his third year. And hey, 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.240 I mean you go back to last spring and it 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:32.160 was looking like, and I think fur Con would be 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:34.120 the first to tell you this, he wasn't going to 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.080 be back. He even signed a deal, a tentative deal 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.640 with a team in his home country of Turkey. But 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.200 things just had a way of working themselves out. Sixers 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:47.520 had a need to film and Furkon was their guy, 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:49.679 and he, to me, has been one of the truly 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:54.320 great stories from the first half of the season. Moving 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:58.720 along in chronological order, we will go to December twelfth 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:03.200 at guard. Another signature highlight in my mind from the 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.640 first half of the season, Sixers had a big game 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:11.280 against the Boston Celtics, and front and center was a 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.120 guy who certainly has been much discussed this season, the 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:19.200 one and only Joel Embiid. Now. Up to that point, 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.440 Joel had had some noteworthy games. He had the thirty 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.080 six point game in the two point went against the 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.280 Atlanta Hawks in the third game of the season. He 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.680 had a thirty three and sixteen game against the Sacramento 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.600 Kings twenty twenty game not too long before the Boston 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:40.880 game right after Thanksgiving against the Washington Wizards. But Boston 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:45.679 was a national spotlight game on TNT at TD Garden, 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:48.640 first time the Sixers were there, and I remember the 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.640 biggest thing that stood out to me was Joel's demeanor 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.920 before the game. After shooting around, he had some very 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:59.960 candid comments to reporters, which I thought set the tone 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.960 own for what he would ultimately do that night. What's 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:07.599 your thoughts about Charles Barkley and Shack saying about criticizing 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:11.960 you for your game? Um, I'm in is Um you 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:16.000 know that that's what they do. Um? You know, Um, 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:20.640 maybe that white Uh maybe, um, but I do think 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.400 that why I think I need to you know, being 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:28.640 more aggressive. Um, just you know, just look to impose, 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:31.680 impose myself, just look to dominant. I think the whole 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:35.800 season I haven't done that. Um. And then you can't see, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.880 uh the ways affected my efficiency and my stats. So 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:43.640 you know, I guess I need to go back to 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:48.080 having fun and just dominie. Then but I get what 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.800 they're saying. Then I think that white man, Um, I 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:54.720 gotta make a change. And what did Joel do that 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:58.040 evening against the Boston Celtics. Jayle Brown trying to stay 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.640 connected with the bias over to Joel the three. It's 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:04.480 in the year, it's got being knocked out of three. Hello, yeah, 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:08.000 he waves his fist. He's having fun and Boston it 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.199 throw ahead of Hayward. Hayward tracks it down eighteen seconds ago. 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.240 It's a four point game in the Tights. Hey, black 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.960 boy be had the Sixers had a ball. Oh man 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.360 be put the block out tice and the Sixers gotta 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:23.640 beat Boston. Did you feel good from the game, was amal? 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:29.480 You felt like you had uh? Yeah, the foek warter 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:35.160 Uh Uh, you're not having been the closer that these 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:39.840 guys haven't been admitted to be on the whole season. Uh, 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.199 you know, I just had that the portunity and they 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.719 can find they can fitting me. And you know, I 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:50.280 put out a lot of my teammates because the whole game, uh, 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.240 you know, they made a lot of shots. So he 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.880 kind of put Boston in. Um, you know, they had 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.839 to choose between you know, quickly double seeming me or 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:02.880 because I was going to kick it out and all 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:05.719 know that I'm a William passer and we made that 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:08.360 made shot, So he made it easier for me. I 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.760 think all the stuff that he has been through recently 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.040 to me, the way he handled it personally, I'm proud 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.559 of him. He handled it like an adult. He handled 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:22.120 it with a humility and owned some of it and 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:26.199 then came out and responded in a very dramatic way. 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:30.280 And you know, the numbers speak pretty much for themselves. 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.200 But there was other stuff internally going on with like 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.240 leadership and instruction to his teammates and stuff being stead 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:40.160 at halftime that that flipped him over the top two 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:42.680 for me, one of his better games since he has 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.920 been a Philadelphia seventy six. Joel's final line at the 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.760 end of the evening thirty eight points on twelve twenty one, 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.959 shooting two for three from three, got to the line 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.920 fourteen times, made all of his foul shots except for 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:04.560 two thirteen boards, six assists vintage prime Joel Embiid, I'm 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.160 still continue to rack my mind. To me, that was 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.360 his best performance. That has been his best performance of 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.679 this season so far. Tight game. He was the closer, 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.959 he rose the occasion. He backed up some of his talk. 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:23.160 That is the Joel Embiid that you know. I think 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:24.920 it might be a little bit unreasonable to expect the 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.240 numbers like that each and every game, But just the mindset, 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:33.880 the demeanor, the purpose determination that without question is what 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.040 you're looking for. I lied, I said I was gonna 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:39.839 go in chronological order. I want to backtrack and do 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:44.160 one game out of order. That'll move along in chronological 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:50.080 order by dates. Let's go to December eighth, seventy Sixers 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:57.120 against the Toronto Raptors at the Center and the Sixers 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.320 not too long before that had lost by five at 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.880 Scotia Bank Arena, a game that you know it was. 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:07.560 It was a bomber the Sixers. They played the Raptors tough, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.600 only to become a little bit unglued in the final minutes. 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.560 So the Sixers were looking to get one back against 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:20.760 the Raptors, and they found a most inspiring effort from 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:25.400 a most promising rookie. Matis Tible had himself a game 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:29.880 against Toronto. Here's a steal by Batist in Asiakaba slamatiste 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.800 fiball rocks around want to play. The rookie is doing 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.160 it at both ends of the floor. The Simmons in 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:38.640 the corner up top of Tise, three ball rights. I 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.480 got it. Back to back triples by the rook and 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:45.600 time out Toronto and they love it. At Philadelphia, they're 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:49.640 on their feet. The Sixers are leading by eighteen. Batist, 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.400 thank you for joining us. Congratulations, great game, great shooting, 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:57.520 great defense, and a huge win for your team tonight 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.480 over Toronto. Your thoughts in general, I think it was 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:02.400 big for us to get this one back, especially the 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:04.439 way we played in their place. I think it was 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.160 good for us to get this win. The awesome thing 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:11.439 about Thible's contributions not only did it help the Sixers 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.120 defeat the Raptors by six, but it was on the 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:17.720 heels of a scoreless game, he only played eight minutes 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:21.160 in Thibal the day before, when the Sixers whacked the 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:25.000 Cavaliers by forty seven. He responds by coming out for 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:29.080 twenty point performance, hitting five of his eight threes, and 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.560 then Thible fouled it up with thirteen points a couple 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:35.560 days later at home against the Denver Nuggets. So obviously 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.360 the defense for Thibal has been consistent for the most 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:43.280 part throughout this year. He leads all rookies in steals. 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:45.840 But you know, is it easy to be drawn to 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.760 point production and three point shooting. Sure, But I think 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:52.080 that Toronto game was important because it just it gave you, 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.520 perhaps to a little bit of an extreme, especially at 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:58.320 this stage of Thibal's career, a glimpse at what the vision, 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.720 the ultimate vision for the this guy is three d. 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.120 He was knocking down his perimeter shots. Again, I don't 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:09.400 know if you can really expect five three pointers a game, 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:13.240 even down the road long term. That's a lot to ask. 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:18.520 But Matisse Thyble in that game, the Sixers so kind 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:20.720 of desperately needed to win against the Toronto Raptors, just 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.760 to put everyone's minds at ease, get the monkey off 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:28.320 the back, and Thible answered in a big spot at home, defending, 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:30.920 getting out on the break, and then also knocking down 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.800 some three point shots. Another one of my favorite games 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:37.440 from the first half of the season. You can't talk 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.280 about the first half of the season, of course, without 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:44.280 revisiting Christmas Day at the Center. Seventy Sixers had not 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:48.680 hosted a Christmas Day game since the late nineteen eighties. 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.800 Nineteen eighty eight, in fact, was the last time it 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.760 went down, so there was great build up in excitement 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:56.840 for this to begin with. Well, then you throw in 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.080 the fact that you have the reigning MVP, Janna Santa 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.920 to Coompo in the house owned by the Way, his team, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.920 the Milwaukee Bucks, they just so happened to be the 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.280 best team in the NBA this year. Throw that in 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.080 the pot stirred up. Mix all those ingredients together and 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.640 you have a fantastic setting. On the signature date of 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:20.560 the NBA's regular season calendar, December twenty fifth, the seventy 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:24.280 Sixers did not disappoint. It was a relatively competitive game 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.200 after a quarter, but the Sixers blew things open after that. 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:30.760 Richardson of the ball five on the clock, josh Ronna 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.480 screen Contaton blocks up up high it beat, picks it up, 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:37.040 fires from deep eddin Joel and being with the clock twindling, 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.320 knocks down another grade Sixers by eight. Simmons on the run. 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:43.000 Simmons the Josh three ball right side in the air. 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:46.400 Head's gone again. Another triple, and the Sixers leave the 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.000 Milwaukee Bucks by nineteen points and beat on top he 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.680 fakes the three Middleton's Garden Middleton's involve difficult to hear 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.240 you well with the right hand shot, oh man, beautiful 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:59.040 little doctor j Esk going right up twenty nine for 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.360 a beat would play there are probably considering the fact 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:04.240 that it was Christmas Day. Do you feel like this 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:07.480 was your best game as a team so far this season? Yeah, 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.359 for sure. Obviously you played the best similar league. So 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:16.679 we came out. We showed that, you know, to ups 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.959 and down. We showed that, you know, we've vidd there. 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:22.600 We see got a long way to go, obviously, but 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.800 we've and we're gonna keep on getting better. Tobias Harris 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:31.320 with a really nice game against the Bucks, twenty two points, 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:37.000 five three pointers, helping the seventy sixers roll against Milwaukee, 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.399 giving them just their fifth loss at that point in time, 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:44.160 Joel Embiid had thirty one and eleven. He knocked down 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:49.119 three three pointers. Al Horford a double double, fifteen points, 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:53.640 fourteen assists for Ben Simmons and Josh Richardson, with eighteen 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.320 points for con Quork Miles with sixteen off the bench, 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:00.760 Sixers did well, holding Yannisana Kumpo to eighteen on just 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:04.240 eight for twenty seven shooting. It was just a great 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.840 performance by the Sixers and one that just inspired so 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:11.280 much hope about the potential for this team moving down 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:15.200 the road. Now, after Christmas, the Sixers they have been different, 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:17.840 and even with the three game home winning streak right 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.240 before the All Star Break, I think you'd still say 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.879 the same. I know the team would like to go 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.879 out there and show it has the ability to be 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.679 a similar team on the road that we've seen in 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.880 terms of the version of themselves at home. But yeah, 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:37.000 since Christmas, the Sixers, they've been battling to regain the 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.280 type of momentum that we saw consistently throughout the first 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.000 what would that have been two months of the season. 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:47.400 So following Christmas, the Sixers went on the road. They 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.119 endured a four game losing streak on a four game trip, 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:55.919 came back home, got wins over OKC and Boston. In 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:59.399 the OKAC game, of course, Joel Embiid suffered that really 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.760 unsight leave broken left finger, and he would go on 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.520 to miss the next nine games. But during that stretch, 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:10.240 Ben Simmons he was having an awesome year before then, 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.240 But man, did he step up, take his game to 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.679 the next level, show tremendous leadership while playing some of 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.000 the best basketball of his career. And in no game 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.000 was that more apparent than the seventy six Ers January 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:27.200 fifteenth victory over Brooklyn. Simmons breaking free in the main 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.960 reverse with Meal jam want to play my Ben Simmons? 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.760 Are you kidding me? A spectaculars lab Now the Sixers 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:38.080 big trip up by seven, Benny had Simmons scores it again. 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:42.720 Simmons over Joe Harris and was slumped shoulders and upturned folbs. 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.399 Harris turning to the bench and to Jared Allen like, what, 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:48.439 who's helping out? Simmons has got thirty four? Can you 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:52.560 tell before games when he might have a game like this? Um? 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:55.080 I wish I could say, I couldn't and I can't. 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:59.400 We learned that he was Conference Player of the week 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:02.479 during this game. I would have given him that just 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:06.200 for a second half of this game, but he was 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:08.439 He was great. What do you think has been the 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:10.199 key to your growth as a player? A man of 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:12.520 coaches saying, how dominant you're playing. What has been the 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:14.960 key to you're kind of growing your game? Just staying 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:17.159 locked in. I'm taking a day at the time. I 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.800 know you know it's not going to happen overnight. That's 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:23.960 stay on course, stay locked in. I'm trusting my team, 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:28.960 leasing my coaches. Ben Simmons absolutely insane at Barclay Center, 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:33.560 helping the Sixers to a one seventeen one eleven Martin 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.560 Luther King Day matinee victory over the nets. Thirty four 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.560 points for Simmons ten or fourteen from the line. He 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:45.000 only missed two of his fourteen shots, twelve boards, twelve assists, 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:49.320 five steals, and two blocks shots. Shouldn't remember to look 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.840 this up before hitting record, but I am. If I'm 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.840 not mistaken, I think that Ben has been the only 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.840 player in NBA history to hit some of those statistical 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.560 minimums the points, the rebounds, the assist, the steals, in 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:05.480 the blocks in the same game. Just crazy. Rang the 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:10.399 bell afterwards. His leadership on full display, and it was 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:14.919 a game, perhaps the best game in a series of 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:18.680 awesome games from Ben Simmons while Joel embid was out 0:21:18.720 --> 0:21:22.439 for nine games. The final game the seventy Sixers played 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:27.480 without Embiid before his most recent return was perhaps the 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:31.800 most anticipated date on the Sixers home schedule. It was 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:35.720 January twenty fifth. It was a Saturday night, eight thirty 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:40.879 ESPN ABC primetime game at the Center. Everyone from the 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:44.320 mother Ship was there. You had Rachel Nichols and the Jump, 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:49.640 You had Jalen Rose, you had Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:52.879 Mike bring the whole thing. I mean, ESPN totally blows 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.960 out its coverage for those primetime games on Saturday nights 0:21:56.960 --> 0:21:59.760 at eight thirty, and the seventy Sixers proceeded to a 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:02.679 Sally blow out Lebron and the Lakers. Harris on the 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:05.600 drive goose but can't con Tatum head. Harris knocks it 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:08.800 down with a right hand tramp time out Los Angeles 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:12.159 to bias. Harris with twenty three points. Had he is 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.040 fired up, he is parking in a good way at 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:17.920 the Sixers crowd. Simmons with an outside right left hand 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:21.320 dribble Green right there. Now, Bed turns the Downland goes in, head, 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:24.520 lays it up head good bet Simmons on Danny Green, 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.560 he would not be the nyed and the Sixers have 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:30.880 built up a fourteen point ly Harris on the move 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.320 against Danny Green in the lane, turns right hand shot, 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:36.040 ribbing around and good and Dad, I'll do it. The 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.840 seventy Sixers aren't gonna beat the Lakers here in Philadelphia. 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:42.959 Definitely knew the type of team we were going up 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:46.320 against and how dominant they can be, and how we 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:50.040 needed to really come back that on our side, and 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:54.119 you know, God good looks and was looking to really 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:57.280 go off a lot of the mismatches that I got 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:00.960 in a lot of the switches that was brought to 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:03.760 me on some I'm gonna pick a role. So definitely 0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:06.640 fun to start on aggressive mindset, but also a lot 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:09.520 of things were coming my way a little bit earlier today. 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:13.800 The seventy Sixers led for forty two and a half 0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:18.040 minutes in that forty eight minute game, and the Lakers 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:22.600 that was just their tenth loss of the season. Obviously, 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:26.600