NBA scores 2017: The 76ers are REALLY BACK, and 7 more things from Friday

Philadelphia has a winning record for the first time in nearly four years. Their moment is finally coming.

Nov 4, 2017, 12:00 PM UTC

NBA: Indiana Pacers at Philadelphia 76ers

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

With the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers tied at 110 and just over two minutes remaining, J.J. Redick hit a three. Two possessions later, he hit another one. With 46 seconds left, Redick hit a third straight bomb — just to be sure.

There was no messing around from him.

The 76ers are back. They’re over .500 for the first time since Nov. 16, 2013, and that’s exactly where they want to be. Philadelphia has its pieces, and they’ve lost enough. It’s time to win, to push for the playoffs, and Redick is exactly the veteran who you want involved in a process — get it, ha ha, an extremely original Process joke — like that.

Redick finished 8-of-12 shooting on threes for the game, and we’re reminded once again how great this win-win combination is. Redick got paid — $23 million — and the 76ers got the flexibility of keeping him for only one season. Who knows what will happen next summer, but adding quality players that can build up the younger pieces is exactly the way to properly stoke the hype that everyone has for Philadelphia.

Nearly four years with a losing record. That’s a long, long time. Joel Embiid is the future, and Ben Simmons is the talk of the league, but players like Redick are just as important for Philadelphia to turn the corner.

Also, Las Vegas was just a bit off about Ben Simmons

The over/under on how many triple-doubles Simmons would record this season was 0.5. In nine games this season — thanks to his 14-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist line on Friday — Simmons has already recorded two.

LeBron snapped off

LeBron James had 57 points to snap a four-game Cleveland losing streak against Washington on Friday. As I wrote: Boy, did the Cavaliers need that performance from him.

This was a nationally televised game, and the Wizards were talking shit before it started. James had to be this LeBron in this game, monstrous enough that Jay Z would throw his name into a feature verse for Kanye West. He was.
It’s not like James had been bad this season, either. He came into this game averaging 25.6 points on 59 percent shooting with 7.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists. Are you kidding? Without the appropriate context of “that’s LeBron James, probably the second greatest basketball player of all time,” we’d be freaking out about someone averaging those numbers.
On Friday, James had to be even better, and so he was.

Let’s appreciate Steven Adams more than we do

Did you realize that Oklahoma City has the second-best defense in the league? We’re still firmly in small sample size territory, meaning things will slide around — but trends have been firmly established, and the Thunder’s good defense clearly is a real phenomenon.

Steven Adams anchoring it in the middle is an enormous part of that.

Adams is sensational: he’s averaging 13.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals in 30.9 minutes per game this season on 68-percent shooting. If those hold, all would be career highs. He’s an absolutely mammoth of a man, as intimidating for anyone headed into the lane as he is likable off it. Oklahoma City used to have excellent defensive lineups that were anchored by one-way defenders, but things change when you add players like Paul George and don’t ask Russell Westbrook to do everything.

That said, Adams did get roasted by Kyrie Irving on Boston’s game-clinching possession against Oklahoma City. That’s to be expected. There are limits to his defense, and that’s definitely past them.

Boston is the first team to win seven straight after starting 0-2

A few paragraphs isn’t enough to do justice about everything I love in Boston right now, so we’ll save it for later. Let’s just say this: the Celtics will probably win the Eastern Conference this year while starting a rookie and a second-year player, and while missing Gordon Hayward.

Andre Drummond: [thinking emojis go here]

It’s not easy to outshine Giannis Antetokounmpo. I think Drummond actually did that on Friday: 24 points, 15 rebounds, and a nine-point win.

Here’s the thing everyone will focus on, though: 14-of-16 from the free throw line, after coming into the game shooting 70 percent. Drummond’s stroke actually looks like it strokes! It’s not just a push shot that gets shoved up in the vicinity of the rim, but a real thing that Drummond can put touch on while launching it gracefully towards the rim. In this case, sample size matters too much to say anything declaratively right now, but this is absolutely something to watch over the coming weeks.

One play from Friday that I loved

I had no clue that Tyson Chandler could still do this! And I do love Tyson Chandler.

One play from Friday that I hated

This is the worst defense I’ve seen in the NBA in a MINUTE, and it’s poor Dirk Nowitzki, my hometown legend. But it’s not just him — the entire Mavericks team forgot that open three-shooters don’t have to shoot, and they gave up a layup with seconds left in the second half. Beyond that, how do you leave two players THAT OPEN with that little time remaining?

I feel bad for Rick Carlisle’s vocal chords at halftime. He can’t have enjoyed that.