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PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia 76ers' winning streak was ended at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 112-109. Minnesota came super close to blowing a 20-point lead but the Sixers couldn't finish the job.
The Sixers are not ones to seek out or enjoy moral victories, especially after a performance where they got throttled on the defensive end for much of the contest. Injuries to James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris don't serve as an excuse for them. However, they showcased the effectiveness of their zone defense and it almost allowed them to steal a win.
The Timberwolves' scoring totals by quarter went like this: 33, 30, 34, 15. Once the Sixers went to a zone defense, the Wolves' offense froze and made just four field goals in 18 attempts while going scoreless or over four minutes. While this wasn't the first instance of Philadelphia using zone defense well, it will stand out as a prime example.
“We've been good at it. We're longer this year. I think that helps,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said of the zone defense. “With [Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker], we just we have that right unit. Tonight, the zone worked and we didn't actually have what we consider our best zone unit on the floor. I would say that would probably be the reason for a couple of those threes that they did get. But overall it was fantastic. And we work on it now a lot. We work on literally every day, every practice for five minutes.”
Since the Sixers will be shorthanded on offense for the next few weeks (even if Shake Milton and De'Anthony Melton continue to shine), they will have to rely on their defense to help them win games. Philadelphia is one of the best defensive teams in the league and will have to lean into that identity as long as their ball handling is scarce.
