:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/43590642/20141105_pjc_sq4_018.JPG.0.jpg)
Here some things I'm sure you haven't noticed about the Philadelphia 76ers. They are as beautifully flawed as their now starting point guard, Tony Wroten. Wroten is currently playing like the 76ers best player, which shows their commitment to development and the journey we should be following.
Tony Wroten leads the league in steals at 3.4 per game. He's averaging 20.8 points and 7.0 assists per game (leads the Sixers in both categories), 46.7% from the field, and 42.1% from three (including 4-6 last night). He's averaging a James Harden-like 8.6 free throws per game on 11.3 drives per game - third in the NBA (per nba.com's player tracking stats).
The thing is with those great stats, there comes some caveats. He's second in the league in turnovers per game (5.4) and he's only making 60.5% (down from last season's 64.1%) from the charity stripe. Wroten is a developing enigma. He can thread a pass into an impossible window (like the one he dished to Luc Richard Mbah a Moute last night against Orlando), but then turn around and commit 9 turnovers attempting to do such amazing things on the regular.
Amazing things like this:
With the hope that Wroten steps farther away from those bad habits in his decision making and shooting form, as he matures:
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2435298/tonywrotenjumpshottext.0.png)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2435304/tonywrotenjumpshotwrongtext.0.png)
Don't get me wrong, this is no dig at Wroten, he is developing. Clear examples are seen in plays like this:
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2435634/tonywrotengreatpassingstart.0.png)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2435636/tonywrotengreatpassingend.0.png)
At times we're too hasty to judge a player that is clearly adjusting to sporting the seventh highest usage rate in basketball (tied with Stephen Curry) in his second season, on a team that is clearly rebuilding slowly.
Yet, losing teams sometimes develop losing habits, and the Sixers are clearly not measuring success by wins at this point. That's been openly acknowledged. We don't want to see Wroten develop into a good-stats-bad-team player that is often criticized, but never correctly assessed in the context of his team, ala Monta Ellis in Milwaukee.
Time will tell, but for now, let's enjoy a home town player playing above expectations in Philadelphia.
| PNWer | PTS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | MIN |
| Tony Wroten (76ers) | 27 | 9-16 | 4-6 | 5-7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 35 |
| Jamal Crawford (Clippers) | 24 | 8-13 | 3-6 | 5-7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 25 |
| Jeff Green (Celtics) | 20 | 9-16 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 36 |
| Klay Thompson (Warriors) | 19 | 7-13 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 30 |
| Kelly Olynyk (Celtics) | 18 | 7-11 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 34 |
| Avery Bradley (Celtics) | 16 | 5-13 | 3-7 | 3-3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 27 |
| Isaiah Thomas (Suns) | 15 | 4-10 | 1-4 | 6-6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 26 |
| Nate Robinson (Nuggets) | 10 | 5-10 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Quincy Pondexter (Grizzlies) | 7 | 2-8 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| Marvin Williams (Hornets) | 6 | 3-6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 30 |
| Reggie Evans (Kings) | 6 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Spencer Hawes (Clippers) | 5 | 1-7 | 0-2 | 3-4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Luke Ridnour (Magic) | 2 | 1-6 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| Terrence Ross (Raptors) | 2 | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
| Aaron Brooks (Bulls) | 2 | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Zach LaVine (Timberwolves) | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rony Turiaf (Timberwolves) | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rodney Stuckey (Pacers) | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aron Baynes (Spurs) | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Austin Daye (Spurs) | 0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Justin Holiday (Warriors) | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C.J. Wilcox (Clippers) | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors might have blew out the woefully underperforming Los Angeles Clippers and Jamal Crawford. Klay had a steady 19 points, mainly on feeds from Curry.
Jamal was again the leading scorer for the Clippers (24 points in 25 minutes), but his impact was minimized by the Warriors' 14-2 run to take a 10-point lead before Jamal could provide the offense spark the Clippers needed.
With the Toronto Raptors missing big men Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas, Jeff Green, Kelly Olynyk, and Avery Bradley had the Boston Celtics up by 16 points in the first quarter. It wasn't enough. Tied at 105 with 1:09 left in the quarter, the Celtics gave the game away.
With 0:33 seconds left, Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry ripped rookie Marcus Smart and fed DeMarr DeRozan for a fast-break layup. He was fouled on the layup and hit the free throw, Green later missed a three and time ran out.
Green did have this nice block on Lou Williams:
Nate Robinson played a season-high 21 minutes. Denver fell behind by as much as 21 points early, until Robinson's layup gave the Nuggets their smallest deficit at 60-52 with 1:37 left in the second quarter. Unfortunately the Kings closed the quarter on an 8-2 run. Reggie Evans 17-foot jumper (I know, right!?) and lay up on a fast break made it 105-70, effectively sealing the game.
Isaiah Thomas found himself in a similar situation, as his driving layup at the 5:41 mark in the second quarter gave the Suns their largest lead of the game (42-32). It didn't hold. Memphis went on a 18-5 run in the first 5 minutes of the third quarter to re-take the lead at 64-59. They pulled away in the fourth for the win.