The shorthanded Sixers fought but lost to the Nets, 127-124, Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
But that’s not what this story is about.
This story is partly about Spencer Dinwiddie, the Brooklyn guard who scorched the Sixers for a career-high 39 points Wednesday (see observations). That mark topped his previous career-high of 31 scored against, you guessed it, the Sixers.
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This story isn’t all about Dinwiddie — though he is a pending free agent who has yet to get an extension — but about what he brings to the table. He’s a guard that can create and make shots.
Do the Sixers have anyone outside of Jimmy Butler you can say that about?
Sure, Joel Embiid is playing at an MVP level, but as we saw in the second half against the Nets, it’s not always easy to run the offense through the post. Ben Simmons can create shots, but he’s not necessarily willing to take them unless they’re at the rim. JJ Redick is as elite a shooter as there is, but his expert movement away from the ball is what gets him shots. They certainly don’t boast that type of player off the bench.
When you look up and down the roster, Butler is really the only the guy that can “get buckets.”
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We seem to make every guard look like a freaking Hall of Famer” Embiid said. “All of their guards look like Hall of Famers against us. But they’re pretty good. I got to give them a lot of credit. Every time they play against us they always seem to take advantage of (us). They run a lot of pick-and-rolls, they shoot a lot of threes and they always seem to take advantage of that and make them, so you got to give them a lot of credit.
While it’s true that Dinwiddie and/or his teammate D’Angelo Russell always seem to go off against the Sixers, they can actually play. Dinwiddie was averaging 19.3 points over his last four coming in.
The Sixers don’t have that type of player, and the other concern is that they can’t stop that type of player. When you look at teams like the Raptors and Celtics, the elite teams in the East, they have multiple players that can score in isolation.
That has to be a concern as the Sixers get closer to the playoffs.
“I think that they’re a good team, to begin with,” Brett Brown said of Brooklyn. “I do not feel like their record reflects how good they are and I especially know that no matter what their record says, we struggle with that type of team, and we did tonight. Albeit undermanned. It doesn’t discount for me the fact that we do struggle with that style of a team.”
So what’s the solution?
As mentioned, Dinwiddie will be an unrestricted free agent when the season ends. The anniversary of his contract was Dec. 8, meaning he’s been eligible to sign an extension since that date. The Nets may not want to have those conversations with Dinwiddie, according to reports.
Maybe if you can't beat ‘em, get ‘em to join you.
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