Who Are The Sixers?

The Sixers beat Portland Monday night to improve to 10-3 in their last 13 games. They’re also just 13-17 overall and it’s never exactly clear which of their players are healthy. The team is a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a protective facemask. Who knows what they’ll do next.

The 2024 Phillies, on the other hand, are a group we know all too well. As the year comes to an end, we’ll continue our look at the top 15 games of the season. Game # 4 features a familiar late-inning hero.

James Franklin’s Nittany Lions are another known quantity, for better or worse. A great team that just can’t be taken seriously as a championship contender.

Let’s discuss it all and pop some champagne. It’s 12:00 a.m. somewhere.

In the email today:

• 💤 Sixers Cruise to Rocking Chair Win in Portland

• ⚾ Top 15 Phillies Games of 2024 - No. 4

• 🎲 James Franklin Doesn't Have Much to Lose Tonight

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

You are what your record says you are, Bill Parcells famously said.

But it’s hard to know exactly what to make of the 13-17 Sixers. They’re still one of the five worst teams in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started tomorrow, the Sixers would be watching them on television.

Then again, the Sixers ran the Trail Blazers out of the gym last night, claiming their 10th win in 13 games. Something is happening.

Joel Embiid (37 points) and Tyrese Maxey (23 points) were again the Sixers’ focal points. Paul George was almost entirely useless, begging the question of whether he’s too hurt to play.

Once again, George’s ineffectiveness was papered over by the sensational bench play of Guerschon Yabusele, who isn’t known for this sort of production or pyrotechnic dunking ability, but we’re here for it anyway.

The Trail Blazers very briefly got as close as eight points midway through the third quarter. Three possessions and a Portland technical foul later, the Sixers were back up 15.

It’s a fairly unserious team that Portland runs out there. But you can only play who’s on your schedule. Six weeks ago, you would never have trusted the Embiid-less Sixers to win this game.

Now you have to think they’ll be favored in Sacramento and something like a pick’em at Golden State.

Life moves pretty fast.

If you haven’t been following On Pattison’s countdown of the top 15 Phillies games of 2024… well, we don’t blame you. The wounds from the team’s postseason faceplant are still pretty fresh.

But for those who are emotionally ready, there really are some incredible moments worth revisiting. Here’s our collection through number four:

15) April 16, 2024 - Ranger Suarez throws a complete game shutout

14) September 14, 2024 - The Cal Stevenson game

13) May 18, 2024 - Kody Clemens ninth-inning home run

12) July 9, 2024 - Phillies clobber Dodgers, 10-1, in first game of series sweep

11) June 18, 2024 - Nick Castellanos walk-off double against Padres

10) June 24, 2024 - Phillies turn 1-3-5 triple play

9) April 30, 2024 - Castellanos and Rojas hit ninth-inning bombs against Angels

8) June 3, 2024 - Rhys Hoskins returns to Philly as a Brewer

7) October 6, 2024 - Nick Castellanos NLDS walk-off single

6) September 3, 2024 - Kyle Schwarber hits three home runs in wild comeback win over Toronto

5) April 2, 2024 - Bryce Harper hits three home runs in early-season win over Reds

4) September 1, 2024 - Nick Castellanos walk-off single in 11th inning against Braves

For the third time in our top-15 countdown, we have a game featuring a Nick Castellanos walk-off hit.

Before we get to the action itself, some context is in order.

After a torrid start to the year, the Phillies cooled down considerably in July, posting a 10-14 record (their only losing month of the regular season aside from a 1-2 March). They weren't much better in August, sporting a 13-12 record for the month on Aug. 29 as they kicked off a four-game series against the second-place Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies' lead in the NL East had dwindled from a season high of ten games to just five. A poor showing in their final head-to-head series with ATL would usher in a stressful September.

Luckily, the Phils won two of the first three games of the series, giving them an opportunity to step on the Braves' necks in game four. Aaron Nola was on the mound.

Nola pitched well in six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out nine. But he exited the game with the Phillies trailing, 2-0.

The offense finally woke up in the bottom of the sixth. Castellanos tied the game with a two-out, two-run double.

Both teams' bats fell silent from there.

Orion Kerkering, Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, and Carlos Estevez made sure the Braves didn't score again. Strahm worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth inning. Estevez stranded the extra-inning ghost runner in both the tenth and eleventh.

That set the stage for Mr. Walkoff.

“I think the thing that has gotten me the most comfortable in those spots is all the work I do on the field early," said Castellanos after the game. "I don’t feel like I’m searching for a swing. I think that since we started doing that in May, it’s just built success slowly.”

The victory pushed the Phillies' division lead to seven games and extended what would eventually be a six-game winning streak.

They'd go 15-11 overall in September.

You read that right.

Penn State is set to play its biggest game tonight since, you know what, we don’t know. If you want to, we guess you can say last week’s win over SMU was a big game. Not everyone would agree.

A little jaded, but definitely not wrong. Penn State has been really good at Beaver Stadium the past two seasons, as long as Michigan and Ohio State weren’t involved.

It would take some doing not to know what kinds of trouble James Franklin has had against good teams, especially on the road. Certainly, X will let you know.

You know things are bad when USA Today is dragging you:

So why is Franklin playing with house money? Because, really, what more can anyone really say if Penn State loses tonight?

Are they going to say he’s a bad big-game coach? Yes, but even winning this game won’t change that narrative. Penn State is a consensus 11-point favorite tonight.

Is his job at risk? Get effing serious. The only thing at risk are his incentive bonuses.

There are more Penn State diehards who feel that way than Nittany Lions fans who want the coach gone.

Too many people remember the Bill O’Brien days. Including us.

Penn State fans never want to go back there. So it’ll probably be Franklin in the job for a very long time.

One playoff game in Idaho, even with the Nittany Lions favored by double digits, isn’t going to change much.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

📊 Poll

Results from Monday:

🔗 Links

• 🗓️ LeBron James, 40, thinks he could still play in the Association in 2031 if he chooses to, which he most likely won’t.

• 🙄 Josh Allen will make a cameo appearance on Sunday to keep his consecutive starts streak alive.

• 📉 You’re not going to believe this, but Mike McCarthy really doesn’t want to talk about his job status.

• ⚖️ The FBI wants sports leagues to start paying closer attention to what happens to players’ homes when they play on the road.

• ✈️ Our wish for 2025 is Sexy Rexy back on the sideline in New York.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

• Flyers at Sharks, 8:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

• Sixers at Kings, 10:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Thursday, January 2, 2025

• Sixers at Warriors, 10:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

• Flyers at Golden Knights, 10:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia+)

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year! See you Friday.

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