All the need-to-know info from Thursday’s slate.
Long Limbs, Long Range
Ben Simmons racked up a triple-double (12 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists), Joel Embiid put up 33 points, and Philadelphia climbed back from a 16-point deficit to tie the battle of the Young and Promising in the final minute. Impressive.
Brandon Ingram erased all of that.
Ingram hit just one previous 3-pointer, in the first quarter, before releasing that deciding one; to quote The Ringer’s Matt James in Slack, “Ingram wants the big shot almost as much as Lonzo [Ball] doesn’t want it.” Ball had an open look earlier in the shot clock, but dealt it. And for a rookie as allergic to making shots as he is immune to bad passes, who can blame him?
Let’s get back to Ingram and his 7-foot-3 wingspan:
Three weeks after losing to the Sixers in Staples, the Lakers got revenge on Philly’s home court, 107-104.
Josh Jackson Hammered the Polish Hammer
Not the Kind of Bench Support the Wizards Need
Not Mad At High-Scoring Brad
Big-Game Bradley Beal returned on Thursday, finishing with a game-high 34 points to carry Washington past Phoenix, 109-99. It marked the Wizards’ seventh straight game without John Wall, who is dribbling (!) —
— but still has no expected return date. Beal put up a career-high 51 points on Tuesday against the Blazers, but in the five games before that, he floundered: Beal shot 35.6 percent from the field, hit 3s at a Tony Allen rate, and averaged nearly nine points less than he had the rest of the season.
Here’s to Big-Game Brad—you’re a hell of a lot better than 30.4-percent-from-3 Brad.
The Holidays Just Got Awkward
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie finished on Thursday with five points. Eh. Two of those five were clutch; he blew past an OKC defender and pushed the lead with less than two minutes to go. Nice. Brooklyn beat OKC, 100-95. Cool. The guy he left behind for the bucket was Andre Roberson. OK? Dinwiddie’s girlfriend, Arielle Roberson, is the sister of Andre Roberson. Yikes—enjoy the family holiday, Spence.