76ers 119, Knicks 108: Scenes from attack of the zones

The New York Knicks played 2.5 quarters of very good basketball Friday night. Unfortunately, that was not enough to overcome the Philadelphia 76ers, who erased a 13-point deficit and rolled late to a 11-point win.

I don’t mind losing to the Sixers, who have two superstar talents in Joel Embiid and James Harden. What I do mind is that our head coach, Tom Thibodeau, so routinely gets himself out-coached by Doc Rivers. Rivers is known as dude who is nearly as stubborn as Thibs, but this is the second time this season that the Sixers turned a loss into a win by switching to a zone defense. They also did it on Christmas Day.

For those who haven’t watched the Knicks much this season, they are just horrific against the zone. The Raptors, who have mostly struggled this season, used it to win the season series against New York, 3-1. Other teams and other coaches have learned to adapt to the zone...not the Thibodeau Knicks, though.

Recap to come.