The Sixers are ‘living with where we’re at’ after close win over the lowly Jazz, but the road gets tougher
The shorthanded Sixers held off the lowly Jazz to cling to the sixth seed in the East with 20 games remaining. "I’m happy with where we’re at right now," Tyrese Maxey said.
Jabari Walker looked up at the scoreboard Wednesday night and accepted that the margin between the 76ers and lowly Utah Jazz remained close down the stretch.
So the Sixers tightened up defensively, allowing just two points in the final 4 minutes, 51 seconds. They got a go-ahead scoring burst from Quentin Grimes in the final minute. And the Xfinity Mobile Arena crowd collectively exhaled when Utah’s Kyle Filipowski missed a three-pointer that allowed the Sixers to escape with a 106-102 victory.
The Sixers were severely shorthanded Wednesday, with rookie standout VJ Edgecombe (back bruise) joining the list of absent players that already included Joel Embiid (oblique strain), Paul George (suspension), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (illness). Yet they were facing an 18-44 Utah squad that was recently fined by the NBA for blatantly “tanking,” or attempting to lose in order to improve their draft lottery odds.
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That Wednesday’s matchup went down to the wire could be characterized by outsiders as uninspired, at best, and flirting with an inexcusable disaster, at worst. Coach Nick Nurse and All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey, however, offered a different viewpoint.
“That’s a hell of a win, considering all the guys out,” Nurse said. “ … We don’t care what they look like. Just pick off a win here and there.”
Added Maxey: “I’m living with where we’re at. I’m happy with where we’re at right now.”
The “win is a win” cliche is particularly true right now for the 34-28 Sixers, who cling to the sixth seed in a bunched-up middle of the Eastern Conference standings with 20 games remaining. The team that finishes in that spot will advance directly to the playoffs’ first round, while the teams that finish seventh through 10th must earn a spot through the play-in tournament.
Following Tuesday’s 40-point faceplant against the San Antonio Spurs, which Grimes described as “kind of embarrassing,” the Sixers’ lead in the standings dwindled to a half-game on the seventh-seeded Orlando Magic and eighth-seeded Miami Heat. Wednesday’s victory bumped that margin back up to a full game, and moved the Sixers to 1½ games behind the fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors.
The Sixers are 4-4 since the All-Star break, including impressive victories at the Minnesota Timberwolves and against the Heat but a horrid loss at the New Orleans Pelicans. All of those games have been played without George, whose suspension spans 10 more games, while six have been missing Embiid, whose recent injuries also include a stress reaction in his shin.
Maxey acknowledged after Tuesday’s blowout that the vibes have been up and down since the trade deadline, even directly addressing that he and the Sixers “miss” the dealt Jared McCain.
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“You can’t dwell on that,” Maxey said. “You’ve got to focus on the people that’s in this building. These are the people that are going to be with you for the rest of this season. …
“If you want to try to make a run at doing something special, then you’ve got to focus on that.”
After getting smacked by the Spurs, a home matchup against the Jazz appeared to be an ideal bounceback opportunity. Yet two nights prior, Utah hung with the Denver Nuggets, widely considered a finals contender, before losing, 128-125. And after deliberately resting key players in prior fourth quarters, coach Will Hardy subbed his starters back in for Wednesday’s stretch run against the Sixers.
“They’re playing hard and they’re playing the right way,” Maxey said of the Jazz. “You’ve got to actually beat them. They’re not just going to let you.”
The Sixers’ outing needed a massive off-the-bench boost from reserve big man Jabari Walker, who made his first six shots (including 4-of-4 from three-point range) and finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. And legitimate minutes from recent two-way signee Tyrese Martin (eight points, two rebounds, two assists), whose play Nurse described as “just a little shy [of] excellent.”
Nurse started Adem Bona at center instead of Andre Drummond, who had typically held that role when Embiid was out but has been ineffective recently. And Grimes became the Sixers’ closer, breaking down his defender to convert a layup and draw a foul on a nearly identical play.
“My teammates have a lot of trust in me,” Grimes said, “and my coaches have a lot of trust in me to make those plays.”
The Sixers’ opponents get significantly tougher from here. Up next is a trip to the Atlanta Hawks, who have already beaten the Sixers three times and have motivation to claw out of the East’s No. 10 seed. During the next week, the Sixers will also visit the Cleveland Cavaliers, who acquired former Sixer James Harden at the trade deadline and have ascended to the East’s fourth seed, along with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
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As a tuneup for that rugged stretch, Wednesday’s outing against the Jazz was far from aesthetically pleasing.
Yet the shorthanded Sixers won to keep their grip on the sixth seed, and Maxey will live with that for now.
“Guys took it personal at the end,” Walker added. “We knew how important this was for us, and we acted as professionals and got it done. …
“When it was crunch time, we locked in. We’ll learn a lot from this, but this was a big one of us.”