Sometimes, matchups don't go your way in basketball. Or sometimes, there's just nothing you can do about it because it's more than the matchup that's the problem.
That appeared to be the problem for coach Nick Nurse and the Sixers Saturday at the Xfinity Mobile Arena against the New York Knicks. No matter if the Sixers planned to match speed with speed, height with height with height or quickness with quickness, it didn't matter as the Knicks tore the Sixers apart on the backboards and rode that to a 112-109 win before a seemingly fairly mixed crowd of Sixers and Knicks fans.
While Joel Embiid owned Karl-Anthony Towns — who he fouled out in just 16 minutes of play — Jalen Brunson continued to be that thorn in the side with 31 points.
And while the Sixers bench got outscored 29-13, none of those factors played into the loss as much as the rebounding. New York crushed Philadelphia off the glass to the tune of 53-27. Worse, the visitors corralled 19 offensive rebounds to just six for the home team. That led to an incredible advantage of 26-4 in second-chance points. That's your game, set and match right there.
It raises a bigger concern than just losing a home game on a Saturday afternoon on a nationally televised game, because this loss has to get lumped in with two losses in the past 10 days against another Eastern Conference team.
While gathering wins in order to stabilize playoff positioning is going to be important from here on out for the 24-20 Sixers, being able to know that matchups against potential conference playoff opponents can be favorable, and not huge disadvantages, may be even more important.
The news isn't very good when it comes to that.
Within the past 10 days, the Sixers have dropped three games to probable Eastern Conference playoff teams — two to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the setback to the Knicks. All three have come at home, and in all three, the backboard work was the difference.
In a 133-107 loss to the Cavs, Cleveland owned a 60-46 advantage. Two nights later, in a 117-115 loss, the Sixers lost the board game by 54-44. And then there was Sunday's debacle.
"Certainly, I think a huge concern coming out of the game," said Nurse. "It was a concern at halftime. We've got to make sure that we're putting two (players) on (reserve Mitchell) Robinson and that gets a little dangerous because you're putting two on him and that leaves one guy free.
"He got his share (10 rebounds), but a lot of them came from guards swooping in from the corners and underneath the basket. We just kind of got to look at the matchups. You've got to use all five. You've got to use all five. That gets a little tough sometimes with somebody shot contesting or something. Certainly, a concern after the game, but I think for the most part we've done a pretty decent job. Worse for me is, sometimes we'll give up 15 (offensive rebounds) and we'll get 17 ourselves. So we can kind of balance it out, we just didn't get any at the other end. Probably the determining factor of the game."
Not probably. And all summed up after the Sixers had cut the lead to three on a putback by Embiid (38 points, 11 rebounds), former Sixer Landry Shamet missed a three, but OG Anunoby dunked the rebound home and any chance for a comeback win was thwarted by the only aspect of the game where the Sixers couldn't compete.
OG Anunoby THWACKS the rim on the putback slam!
Knicks up 5 with 33.3 to go 🍿 pic.twitter.com/xRBBGGyD0o
It's a bit of a setback in a bigger way, too. Following Thursday's overtime win against the visiting Houston Rockets, murmurs throughout the league and national media started to be heard about the Sixers perhaps being a very viable contender for an Eastern Conference title. And why not? Embiid posted a triple-double with 32 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and Maxey totaled 36 and 10 deals. Kelly Oubre was inserted into the starting lineup and thrilled with 26 points of his own. Paul George was tremendous defensively down the stretch and eyes started opening wider when it came to the Sixers.
But the reality is the matchups in the conference — and the rebounding liabilities of the team — simply can't be pushed aside.
"We played slow and stagnant and didn't run our stuff correctly," said Maxey of the Sixers' third quarter, when they were outscored 30-13.
"We just got to block out," said rookie VJ Edgecombe. "That's all it is. Once a shot goes up, you can't just look around, you just have to go block out. A rebound comes down to who wants it more."
And therein lies the real problem. In the two losses to Cleveland, guard Donovan Mitchell hauled in 16 rebounds total in the two games. Sunday, small forward Josh Hart torched the Sixers with 13 rebounds, five of them coming on the offensive end. As much as Nurse and his staff may want to talk about matchups and double-teams contributing to the rebounding woes, perhaps Edgecombe's words of "who wants it more," is where the problem really is.
And that isn't necessarily a knock on the Sixers. Many teams just have that guy ... who will take the charge at the right time ... who seems to find almost every loose ball ... who will come up with an offensive rebound at the most opportune time.
Nurse has now set in on a starting, and finishing, lineup of Embiid, Maxey, George, Edgecombe and Oubre. It is probably his best offensive unit and the one envisioned to be in those spots at the beginning of the season. Now it will remain to be seen who becomes that key player to make those important plays down the stretch. It would seem any one of those five could be it.
Stay tuned.
