Last night the NBA’s worst team the Philadelphia 76ers, finally got a much needed win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, after an 0-17 start to the year. This ends much talk of the possibility that the 76ers could go 0-82 this season, after their terrible start to the season. This victory also means the 76ers avoid tying the NBA record of 18 losses to start a season.
Of course the 76ers still have a long way to go, but getting the first win of the season and avoiding the loss record will I’m sure relax some fans in Philadelphia, at least those who haven already given up on the team this year. Fans in Philadelphia will of course not be getting carried away with the victory, as most are looking more to the 2015 draft then they are to the next game.
Michael Carter-Williams was Philadelphia’s top performer last night as the point guard put up great numbers and was also a bit unlucky not to get a triple double. He put up 20 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. The 76ers outscored the Timberwolves in three of the four quarters. It was a low scoring win, but the 76ers will take what they’re given in what has been a dire start to the season.
Michael Carter-Williams was relieved to get the win and said, “For me personally, I think it’s a big relief off my chest, and the same is for the rest of the guys now that we got a win”.
The Timberwolves will be very disappointed not to win, but they didn’t necessarily play badly, one performance that stood out for me was from second year center Gorgui Dieng. The big man had 15 points and 16 rebounds on the night. Despite Dieng’s strong offensive performance, the loss of center Nikola Pekovic to injury is a big one for the Wolves, as Michael Carter-Williams was constantly attacking the paint. He was either going up for layups to score or distributing to the perimeter to setup the likes of Robert Covington, who had 17 points of the bench for the 76ers.
76ers coach Brett Brown really felt like his guys on the court deserved the win. Brown said, “We feel like this validates the work they’ve put in, I just have a tremendous amount of respect for the fact that they never once quit on themselves, short-circuited a practice, and they were rewarded tonight”.
The comments made by Coach Brown should make his 76ers squad more confident down the stretch. I feel that Coach Brown was expecting a win against the Timberwolves, as he clearly shows that he has a lot of confidence in his previously winless 76ers squad.
The Timberwolves will go away licking their wounds and look to recover in their next few games, but it doesn’t look good for them. As you look at the schedule their next five games are against, Houston, San Antonio, Golden State, Portland and OKC. It may be a while before the Timberwolves win another game. Where as the 76ers, well they are now a very unpredictable team as we don’t really know if they’re going to be the 76ers of the first 17 games or the 76ers of last night. What I do know about the 76ers is that when you’re at the bottom you can only go one way, up, and with some good draft picks like Joel Embiid and Dario Saric yet to be introduced to the team, the future could be bright for Philadelphia.
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