Tobias Harris, Sixers explain how they slowed down Bol Bol, Magic in win
ORLANDO–The Philadelphia 76ers were looking a bit rough in the first half when they took on the Orlando Magic on the road. Missing Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and Matisse Thybulle, they had a tough time on the defensive end against the taller Magic.
Bol Bol, Mo Bamba, Paolo Banchero, and Moe Wagner were all getting into the paint and using their size advantage with no Embiid in the paint and they had 32 points inside at halftime as they took a 56-52 advantage. The Magic feature so much size along the frontline and that is one advantage they wanted to really use in this situation.
After halftime, Philadelphia buckled down and they found a way to limit Bol and the Magic to just 16 points in the paint after halftime. Their defensive efforts led to a 107-99 win over Orlando on the road. Afterward, Tobias Harris and the Sixers explained their success in the win.
Harris on the difference
“That third quarter, we said in the locker room, there were a few adjustments we made, we went zone one play, and they scored right away so we kind of went away from it. In the third quarter, we went to that a little bit more just to show a different look, but it was our defensive intensity. We were able to hit them, grab rebounds, and go, get stops. I think early on when you matched up with a team of that size out there, it doesn’t really impact you until you are really out there and you’re like ‘Oh shoot, they really got a bunch of 7-footers out here raising up, getting rebounds over us.’ It took us a half, which is longer than it needed to be they’re 7-footers out there and we needed to box out. I thought once we were able to clean up what we needed to do on the offensive glass and make them take tough shots and rebound that was when we were able to get out and get good looks out there. I thought our defense was great and in that quarter, we scored 30 points as well off of just straight movement. Body movement and ball movement. That was key for us.”
Doc Rivers on the second half defense
“We talked about it at halftime. We got a crackback. Just because most of the players in the NBA are so talented, they’re so used to just turning and rebounding, but when you play a big team, you can’t do that. We told them at halftime, every shot go backwards. Go away from the rim, go find somebody, go hit somebody. There were four times in the second half where the ball dropped on the floor and somebody else got it. I thought that showed us boxing out.”
Georges Niang on the differnece
“I think Dan Burke was coming in and making an emphasis of we really want to take away the paint against them. We really want to make them beat us over the top and I think these guys, we’re playing so hard. So it’s great to have—you give up 32 points in the paint in the first half and in the second, you only give up 16. It’s like, you’re seeing the results of the schemes that the coaches are dating up and that becomes addicting. Now you’re like ‘Alright! What else can we get better at?’ and I think guys are really buying in and that’s been huge for us.”
