Mar 30, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Adem Bona (30) rebounds the ball past Toronto Raptors forward Jamison Battle (77) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The Sixers got waxed by the less-lowly-but-lowly Toronto Raptors, extending the losing streak to eight games. The New Orleans Pelicans won, bringing Philadelphia within two games of the fourth worst record. The tank rolls on.
Here's what I saw.
- Adem Bona is playing the best basketball of his young career, taking full advantage of the environment Philadelphia's season has become. I can't quite say the rim protection, in general, has been the best it's been all season because the Sixers still don't get back in transition or offer any resistance against dribble penetration. It's very hard - if not impossible - to plug all those leaks. But Bona made the Raptors pay for throwing up weak nonsense inside. He leveraged his gait, making long rotations from spot to spot in order to protect his house. Bona isn't simply tipping shots away. He's getting full palm on the ball and spiking it to the floor.
He's so forceful at the rim on both ends of the floor that you feel like you're going to witness violence in the air. Bona is not afraid of colliding with anyone or hitting the deck hard. In fact, there have been a handful of hard falls after which Bona popped right back up this season. He didn't care if a red jersey rotated down to the block to protect against the lob on the back side. Bona went for the home run play, attempting to retrieve the pass out of the air and slam it home for two points.
I would encourage him to continue experimenting on offense. He's starting to try some aggressive moves off the bounce, like driving baseline and finishing off the glass. Not to say that things like that should be required of him in an ideal role as long as Joel Embiid is relevant. But he needs to learn how to dribble. Can't exist on offense with your foot nailed to the dunker's spot. So if working on those quick moves passively improves his ball-handling, go for it.
- I think it may be too late for him in Philadelphia, but Ricky Council IV would help his NBA career outlook a bit if he cut out those off-balance midrange fading jumpers. Nick Nurse has made it clear that he isn't an advocate for those shots. His reasoning is sound - they're low-quality and inefficient.
It might be one thing if a technically sound shooter was taking them, and it would be debatable even then. But a shooter of Council's stature taking them is practically a non-negotiable. Never mind the fact that Council is shooting 35 percent on midrange shots. His technical flaws are well known and he's taking those shots without centralized upward power because he's not balanced on his feet. It makes a bad shot even worse.
On one hand, this is the sort of context in which you would enable him to take those shots. Every possession you light on fire incrementally improves your chances of losing, increasing your chances of keeping that protected first-round pick. And you do want to give a young player the environment to try some things and iron out others with no real stakes. But for the sake of Council's future, this is a bad habit worth breaking.
- How the hell do you commit an eight-second violation when the opposing defense isn't even applying pressure in the backcourt? How is that possible? What are you doing?
- I've never seen so many missed layups and unforced turnovers in my life. From both teams. Not a banner display for Dr. Naismith's game, that's for damn sure.
- Saw an Andre Miller jersey in attendance. You, sir, know good hoops.
The Sixers (23-52) will visit the New York Knicks (47-27) on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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