3 Observations After Sixers Earn Tough Summer League Win originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers survived a tough summer league game on Tuesday night.
On a night when they shot 40 for 44 from the free throw line (90.9 percent) as a team, the Sixers cruised to a 92-90 win over the Timberwolves to improve to 2-1 in the Las Vegas Summer League .
Fittingly, the final stretch was filled with fouls, including an offensive foul by Minnesota’s Rob Dillingham on Judah Mintz, who (arguably) stood after a challenge by the T-Wolves. Jeff Dowtin Jr. split a pair of free throws to leave the door open for Minnesota, but Daishen Nix fumbled a Dillingham pass and the Timberwolves were unable to get a shot before the final buzzer.
Sixers rookie Jared McCain scored 21 points on 5-of-16 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Nix and Leonard Miller each scored 22 points.
Next step for the Sixers is a matchup with the Spurs on Friday night at 8:30 pm ET. Here are observations from his second Vegas win:
Monstrous volume of free throws
Entering Tuesday, Rick Council IV’s 11.5 free throw attempts per game led all players in Las Vegas. He took six more in the first quarter against Minnesota and made each one.
As a team, the Sixers were 14 for 14 from the free throw line in the first 7 minutes, 10 seconds. They ended up draining the first 22 foul shots of the game.
The officials blew tons and tons of whistles on each side, ensuring minimal margin for any type of contact. It certainly didn’t make for an especially fluid or fan-friendly contest…but plenty of players got free throw reps in the game.
With a 4-for-4 night from the foul line, Adem Bona moved to 11-for-11 in summer league overall. For a rookie who made 57.3% of his foul shots as a freshman at UCLA and 69.6% as a sophomore, his free throws looked pretty good.
Outside of free kicks, both teams struggled to score efficiently or generate offensive rhythm. The Sixers were 34.8 percent from the floor and 4-26 (15.4 percent) from three-point range.
McCain’s confidence intact
McCain missed his first two field goals, but knocked down a long pull-up jumper and made four free throws in the first quarter.
Despite entering Tuesday with a 26.6 shooting percentage in summer league, he continued to play his game and trust his jumper.
The clash against Dillingham, the eighth pick in the draft, was turbulent and competitive. After stripping the ball from McCain on a drive, Dillingham shoved him and was called for a technical foul. The Kentucky product recorded 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting, seven assists, seven turnovers and six rebounds.
While McCain has yet to find a true shooting rhythm, he has had some tricky shots inside, including a reverse layup after sliding along the baseline.
Beyond the numbers, it’s significant that his confidence didn’t appear to have waned on Tuesday.
Sixers win one
Bona made some mistakes – moving screens, a missed dunk, an intercepted outlet pass.
Even so, he continued to pursue and contest absolutely everything. Although it doesn’t appear on the stat sheet, Bona had several impressive stops at the rim when he anticipated a drive, elevated high and kept his arms straight to ensure he wasn’t whistled for a foul.
However, he committed seven fouls in 23 minutes.
The game finally got a little less slow in the third quarter. Tony Bradley’s fast-break layup capped an 11-1 Sixers run that also featured Council’s first two field goals and a Justin Edwards dunk.
Although the Sixers opened up a 16-point lead, a drama-free fourth quarter was not in the cards. The Timberwolves capitalized on the Sixers’ frequent sloppiness and went ahead on a Nix free throw with just over two minutes remaining.
Physicality and missed shots were key to the action all night. In the end, the Sixers won in large part because of their collective free throw shooting clinic.
