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The Philadelphia 76ers are still hot. After going undefeated in a seven-game homestand, the Sixers wandered into the Big Apple and extended their win streak to eight games by taking down the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, 119-112.
Most of the credit for that Philly win goes to the superstar duo of James Harden and Joel Embiid, but the Sixers also got a big fourth quarter from Georges Niang, who, after the game, revealed a puzzling defensive tactic from the Knicks that he took full advantage of.
“I mean, I don’t know why they were playing in a drop coverage. I probably haven’t seen that since college maybe,” Niang said, per New York Basketball.
Niang came off the bench and finished the game with 16 points on the strength of his outside shooting. He hit four of the Sixers' 3-pointers in the fourth period in which Philadelphia outscored the Knicks, 24-16. Harden had the other 3-pointer to go with five assists in that quarter. Overall, Harden concluded the game with 29 points and 13 assists in 43 minutes, while Embiid generated 35 points and eight rebounds.
Harden can make opposing defenses pay with his excellent reads, and that's exactly what he did in the meeting with New York.
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Via Ian Begley of SNY:
Tom Thibodeau said after today’s game Knicks were in two different coverages on James Harden in the fourth quarter. He credited Harden for reading the defense, making plays and credited PHI in general for spreading the Knicks’ defense out
The Sixers continue their road trip on Tuesday in a meeting with the Washington Wizards.
