The Summer Sixers handed Minnesota its first loss of the Vegas series on Tuesday night with a razor-thin margin by a final score of 92-90.
The final score belies the 16-point lead the Sixers had going into the fourth quarter before the Timberwolves went on a massive run. But for the second night in a row, the Sixers used their uncanny ability to get to the line – both Jared McCain and Jeff Dowtin Jr. had free throws in the final seconds of the game – to nab the win. A few takeaways from the night:
- Joel Embiid must be proud because the team shot a whopping 44 free throws on the night—40 of which they made. Ricky Council IV continues to play at a level far higher than anyone could have predicted six months ago, routinely drawing fouls and going 7-8 from the line. Jared McCain also went 9-9 on free throws, which was something the Sixers needed to see, given some of his shooting struggles.
- Beyond just free throws, this was by far McCain’s best outing of any Summer League game. Despite relatively low shooting percentages (he went just 5-16 from the field and 2-8 from deep), McCain led all Sixers scorers with 21 points for the first time. Right now, the percentages don’t really matter – those will improve with time, especially with less defensive pressure on a court with Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George. It’s much more important that McCain continues to be a willing shooter even when he’s not connecting so much. And for what it’s worth, McCain is quietly making strides as a defender. He had six defensive rebounds last night and another seven tonight.
- Adem Bona fouls a whole lot. He had seven fouls tonight, in addition to eight against the Blazers Monday night. For a Summer League rookie center with sky-high speed and energy, that is not abnormal. Bona’s aggressive style of defense is what allows him to match up well against taller opposing centers. But the Sixers notoriously struggle with maintaining leads in non-Embiid minutes and likely won’t be able to afford to give up free throws because of an illegal screen. It’s a low-level problem but one the Sixers will want to nip in the bud early on in his career.
- Turnovers continue to be an issue, which was a big part of how the Sixers lost their big lead. Ricky Council IV had an uncharacteristic four turnovers, Bona had five, and even Judah Mintz had three in his 20 minutes off the bench. Many of the turnovers were simply the product of inexperience- such as a late-game bounce off Bona’s heel – but a good number were lost balls or touches before going out-of-bounds. Given how much the Sixers battled turnovers in last season’s playoffs, it’s something that should be a priority for the team as a whole, especially amongst their newest group.
The Sixers will play the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, July 19th, at 8:30 pm EST in the final non-playoff game of Summer League.
