NBA scores 2015: Sixers are bad at tanking and 3 other things we learned

Philadelphia picked up their third win in four games and we feel so happy for their players.

Jan 11, 2015, 1:01 PM UTC

John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t very good at tanking in 2015.

With a 93-92 win against Indiana on Saturday, Philadelphia picked up their third win of the calendar year and their players were loving every second of it. For how much people talk about tanking, it’s sometimes forgotten it’s a organization-driven effort, not one permeated by the players. General manager Sam Hinkie’s plan was to form a team that wasn’t good enough to win many games, but the players themselves try their damndest to win every game. They’re the ones who have to deal with failure night after night.

That’s why it’s so much fun to see a europhic Sixers team celebrating after this game with smiles and fist pumps. Players who make it to the NBA almost always have incredibly successful amateur careers, winning district titles and state championships and conference tournaments. It must be exasperating to start a season with 17 straight losses, and so after winning on Saturday, their third game in four nights, the joy was absolutely deserved.

With the Philadelphia up two to start it, the fourth quarter started slow but finished strong. Both teams answered back and forth with shots, resulting in six lead changes in the final 12 minutes.

At the 32-second mark, Robert Covington drove the lane and banked in a wild layup to put Philadelphia ahead.

After Davis West hit a jumper to put Indiana back in front, Michael Carter-Williams answered with the game's decisive basket, a finger roll that he was just able to sneak past Roy Hibbert's long arms.

Good for the Sixers. They have a lot more losses coming this season, but it’s nice to see a team that’s trying so hard to break through and win a couple here and there, too.

3 other things we learned

The Bucks didn't have a player who could stop Pau Gasol. That's a weird thing to write in 2015, but it could not be more true as Gasol lit Milwaukee up for career-high 46 points -- forty six! He racked up 28 of them in the first half, punishing the Bucks for leaving him open in the mid-range. Zaza Pachulia gave him too much space, Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't have enough size and, well, you can imagine he lit Jared Dudley up too on one possession he got switched onto him. Gasol is a matchup-dependent player and can struggle against more athletic defenders with size, but against the right opponent he's still a danger on the offensive end. His final line put him in excellent company.

Not a bad list to be apart of @paugasol pic.twitter.com/PUsWANEylP
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 11, 2015

Two Eastern Conference teams previous left for dead are very, very alive. The Pistons have been the story of the NBA the last couple of weeks, winning seven in a row before finally falling to Atlanta on Friday. They started what could be a new streak Saturday by beating Brooklyn 98-93, led by Brandon Jennings' 20 points that all came in the second half.

Meanwhile, Charlotte also looked to be down and out earlier this season after losing 19 of their first 25 games. They're 9-5 since then, including an absolute clobbering of the Knicks on Saturday, 110-82. Yes, the Knicks are terrible (it was their 15th-straight loss), but the win was the Hornets' fifth straight. Brooklyn and Miami are currently the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the East and have survived despite mediocre play led by aging veterans. However, after watching Charlotte and Detroit play over the past two weeks, they have to understand that their time may be coming to a close sooner than they thought.

Andrew Wiggins keeps showing why he was the No. 1 pick, even though it's not helping the Wolves win any games. Minnesota has lost 15 straight games, but Wiggins isn't letting that effect him. In his last 10 games, he's averaging 21 points per game while shooting 49 percent from the field and 41 percent from behind the arc, plus 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals a game. If you haven't watched him this season, you're making a mistake.

Play of the Night

You were probably expecting this to be yet another Rudy Gobert block highlight -- like this or maybe this. That's what I figured would happen, too. But no, Josh Smith finishes this contested dunk strong right at the rim. It's okay; you can't win 'em all, Rudy.