Getty Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks
The second day of the NBA Playoffs had two unfortunate injuries to two of its biggest stars – Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant – as both hurt themselves driving to the basket only to be called for charges. Neither injury was pleasant to watch.
In light of Antetokoumnpo and Morant’s injuries, there has been an outcry for the NBA to ban the charge. However, Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball of Operations Daryl Morey explained why banning that call isn’t that simple in response to Mike Prada of The Athletic, who also isn’t in favor of such an action.
“There is no viable alternative. as (John Hollinger) says, there are some tweaks possible, but the unintended consequences of eliminating are larger than the problem they are trying to solve,” Morey tweeted.
@MikePradaNBA there is no viable alternative. as @johnhollinger says there are some tweaks possible but the unintended consequences of eliminating are larger than the problem they are trying to solve.
Injuries are unfortunate, but they are part of the game. Banning the charge will not stop them from happening. While the NBA may never eliminate the charge, they have cracked down on players who can draw fouls on their defenders in recent years, like James Harden has, so there’s no telling if imposing rules on charges could come in the future.
PJ Tucker Calls Out Sixers Defense
Despite beating the Brooklyn Nets by 20 points on Game 1, PJ Tucker criticized the Sixers’ defensive performance, believing that there was room for improvement on that end.
“Our defense was (expletive) (Saturday),” Tucker said, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “We gotta get better. We scored the ball pretty easy. We played well on offense. We picked it up the second half. I think that’s what got us to win, but we got to be a lot better.”
Tucker detailed how the Nets succeeded offensively in the first half and what the Sixers’ defense can do to stop it.
“I think it was more of they made a lot of the downhill drives. 2-on-2 pick-and-rolls in the middle of the floor, they did a good job of attacking the guys in the pick-and-roll and making shots off that early on,” Tucker said. “I think that was a big deal in the first half. We gotta be more aggressive.”
Joel Embiid Issues Strong Plea to James Harden
Though Harden has 23 points and 13 assists against the Nets in the Sixers’ Game 1 victory, Joel Embiid wants his co-star to continue to be aggressive and not all in love with being a playmaker.
“Like I said, he’s the best playmaker in the league by far,” Embiid said. “But we don’t want him — I certainly don’t want him — to fall in love with just that. We need him to be aggressive. He was today. Just attacking. By him attacking, he collapses the defense and creates open shots for everybody, or (Paul Reed), playing in the dunker for easy drop-off passes. The key is not just being a playmaker but being aggressive, going downhill, and creating for himself and everyone else.”
Harden hit seven three-pointers against the Nets in Game 1, but went one-for-right inside the arc, which could be something to monitor in the postseason going forward.