Not just for the first time in his first season as Sixers head coach, Doc Rivers was asked to share his thoughts on a non-basketball topic that is attracting national attention.
Before the Sixers’ 113-95 victory over the Mavericks on Monday, he commented on the police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who stopped during a stop in Minnesota on Sunday. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon told reporters he believed the officer who shot Wright was planning to fire her Taser.
“Frustrating, as it should be for … I think we need to stop saying it’s frustrating for all black Americans,” Rivers said. “I think we should be frustrated – all Americans. I do not know if it was a mistake or not. I watched the body cam video, like everyone else. But I just know that frustration is a real thing for everyone. We continue to cancel these cultural goods, but we cancel black lives. I think it’s a little more important to me. It just keeps going. We still make mistakes with the murder of black people.
“I do not want to run it, but it’s there. I think we all have weaknesses and we need to confront them all and figure out how we can make this place a better world, a better country. For me, improving our culture as a society is very important. Not canceling, but improving. Other countries have done an excellent job. I’m going back to Germany; I use Germany as an excellent example. You do not see hook boxes, you do not see statues of Nazi soldiers – and they do not say that this is the culture. They say it improves their culture. I think we need to think more in these terms. ”
As for the game itself, Joel Embiid was brilliant in a 36-point, seven-rebound performance.
Mavs star Luka Doncic posted 32 points on 10-for-20 shooting, four rebounds and four assists.
The Sixers are now 37-17 after a 3-1 ride and begin a four-game home game Wednesday against the Nets.
Here are three observations on Monday’s game:
Can anyone stop Embiid? Not in Dallas
Kristaps Porzingis missed another game against the Sixers when he was sidelined on the second night of a rugby match due to a right knee injury.
Maxi Kleber started in mid-Dallas, though he was not on the floor for long. The Mavs briefly turned to Nicolo Melli at five o’clock after Kleber made two quick mistakes. Embiid got both players in trouble by taking and making eight free throws in his first turn.
Boban Marjanovic was the next player in the Mavs’ center rotation, and the Sixers were eager to get Embiid the ball as soon as they saw the 7-foot-4 Serb on the field. Embiid has a clear agile lead.
He had wide open jumpers at his disposal when he wanted it against Marjanovic. Dallas was lucky to miss a pair in the first quarter, though he later struck out two three-pointers and sometimes looked invincible on Monday night.
Embiid noticed that he had an ‘itch’ in his lap due to the prop on his left knee. Rivers said the prediction was that the Sixers “probably tried all ten different ones”, and that he expects Embiid to lose the tournament at the end of the regular season. Even with the prop that irritates him, it has become a routine for Embiid to see a cast of four or five defenders and score smoothly and effectively on each one. The variety and fluidity in his game is not normal for a 7-footer.
“When we lost in the bubble, I … really focused on my game from the dribble, and that helped a lot,” Embiid said. “This year, the system we have is dynamic. It allows me to not be a 5. It allows me to be a basketball player, either to do the offense, or to be a scorer, or to facilitate other guys.
“It allows me to be just myself. … I’ve never seen myself just a postman. I’ve always seen myself just like, I do not know, Kevin Durant – just moving all over the place, shooting the dribble, handling the ball, making crosses, taking the post. ”
Willie Cauley-Stein, another player in the Mavs’ foreland mix, pushed Embiid off the ball late in the second quarter. It’s unbelievable that the officials did not consider the game a mistake.
Sixers shut down Mavs not named Doncic
Doncic had a more successful points night when he played the Sixers in February. This was in part because the Mavs set up a lot of screens that led to a defender besides Ben Simmons guarding him. The Sixers did not bother me when Tobias Harris or Danny Green landed on the two-time All-Star.
As usual, Doncic was smart and a constant threat with the ball in his hands. Even against Simmons, he was effective in protecting his defender, whether he calmly found the shot he wanted, a foul or a kick to a teammate.
However, the Sixers guarded well as a team. Doncic was a bit of a one-man show, with Jalen Brunson (15 points) Dallas’ No. 2 scorer on the night.
Offensively, it was a positive game from Simmons, who played 24 minutes and scored eight points on 3-for-6 shooting, seven assistants and six rebounds.
After increasing his defender, he generally seemed determined to drive straight to the edge. The end result in such situations is not always for Simmons, but it’s the way both Rivers and Embiid said they like the Sixers’ victory on Saturday in Oklahoma City.
“His attacks on the basket were not passive attacks,” Rivers said Monday. “It was aggressive attacks. (He) is going to bring it in, or you’re going to deceive him. That’s what we tried. Do not go away, try to get away from it – go through people, and he did it. And then the other half, he managed and kicked it. I thought he had the perfect pace for tonight’s game, and that’s what we needed. We have to build on it. We will show it to him. He chose right tonight and (selected), which is really good. ‘
Again, Simmons played assertively without committing unnecessary turnover; he only gave it away once.
“Just stay locked up and focus on it,” he said. ‘I have to take care of the ball, and it’s up to me. I’m just the point guard and really focus. ‘
Another great evening for Korkmaz
Furkan Korkmaz has equaled three former teammates in JJ Redick (who made his Mavs debut), Trey Burke and Josh Richardson.
He played well, regardless of his allotment, a stolen earnings, took a charge and scored nine points in the first half on three attempts to score in the field. For the match, Korkmaz scored 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
Until George Hill (surgery on the right thumb) is available, Korkmaz has a chance to swing Rivers’ opinion of him and his defense. Korkmaz’s willingness to shoot from long range and the ability to heat up is helpful. If his jumper does not fall, can he still give the Sixers decent minutes in a playoff series? Is the potential for a shooting enough to overcome defensive problems?
He has yet to answer these questions convincingly, but gives him the honor of playing well at the start of a challenging seven-game series for the Sixers that includes games against Brooklyn, Phoenix and Milwaukee.
His head coach is happy with what he has seen lately.
“He was great,” Rivers said. “He has a good rhythm. He does less. I thought he went through the piece where he tried to do too much with the ball, and now he is not. He takes the shot when he has it. He drives straight, which is phenomenal to us. He no longer dances with the ball. We thought he went into it a bit, and I thought it threw him off.
“He takes the shots he has to take, and our guys find him. I thought Shake (Milton) did a great job tonight. Shake is a goal scorer, but he really saw that Furk had it going and he tried to get Furk the ball. I thought it was really good. ”