The thirteenth installment of the Philly Sports Stat of the Week has been selected but is hardly a vital tidbit when it’s Eagles-Giants week part three: Playoff Edition. The hype for the playoff matchup is real. So real that if you put your ear close enough to a radio you can hear crazed, fired-up Eagles fans pontificating their hopes and visions for the Eagles’ success as callers on sports radio stations like WIP and The Fanatic. The world doesn’t stop for the NFL Playoffs. Although it may feel like it is the only sport going on, there have been notable stats this week just like any other week. 

With that being said, this week’s Philly Sports Stat of the Week is former Philadelphia 76er T.J. McConnell scored a career-high 25 points in the first half of the Indiana Pacers-Milwaukee Bucks game on January 16. McConnell was hyper-efficient in the first half for the Pacers. McConnell was prompted early to his historic night as he made two wide-open shots for a quick five points. McConnell’s constant pushing of the ball is the bread and butter of his game, allowing easy offense for his team. McConnell scored 25 points, dished 6 assists, pulled down 3 rebounds, and made 2 steals on perfect shooting. McConnell went 9-9 from the floor, 4-4 from behind the three-point line, and 3-3 from the free throw line. McConnell’s 25 points are way more than his previous first-half career-high of 14 points for the Sixers against the Chicago Bulls on April 10, 2019. 

The beloved former Sixer would finish with the game 29 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 turnover in 32 minutes of play while shooting 11-16 from the field. Unfortunately for McConnell, his team fell 132-119 to the mightier Milwaukee Bucks. Ironically, former Sixer Jrue Holiday downed McConnell’s career night with his own stellar game of 35 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and  2 turnovers on 13-19 shooting from the field, 5-8 from the three-point line, and 4-4 from the free throw line. 

For two reasons, it is always pretty cool to look around the league and see former Philadelphia athletes doing well on the court. The first reason is that it validates Philadelphia’s front office’s ability to evaluate talent. The second reason is to fantasize about the possibility of a return for the player, like a surprise return in wrestling. 

Honorable Mention Number One: The Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz played a pretty competitive game against one another on Saturday, January 14th. The game was the first of a five-game road trip for Philly. The Sixers would up pulling the game out of Utah’s fingertips winning 118-117. Joel Embiid and James Harden (61 combined points) mainly led the way with the help of Tyrese Maxey (21 points) and Shake Milton (17 points). Embiid and Harden closed the game with a simple pick-and-roll for Embiid to make the game-winning 12-footer. 

None of those stats is an honorable mention. I just felt compelled to give some background to any readers on that game. The statistic that just missed out for the PSSOTW is the Sixers and Jazz combined for 18 total turnovers. That is only 7 more than the Toronto Raptors’ league-leading ball security stat as they only turn the ball over 11.5  times. For further perspective, the Golden State Warriors are the worst turnover team in the NBA averaging 16 turnovers per game. In a fast-paced and sometimes carefree regular-season environment in the NBA, clean games represented through the turnover stat are not played often. 

Honorable Mention Number Two: The Philadelphia Flyers had a rough game last week against the powerhouse Boston Bruins. Carter Hart, in particular, had the worst statistical showing in the Flyers’ 6-0 loss on Monday, January 16th. Carter Hart allows 4 goals on 16 shots before being pulled from the contest. Hart was pulled from the game and logged just under 28 minutes of ice time. 

The performance adds to Hart’s tough go of it so far in his career against Boston. Including this game, Hart’s record is 4-7-2 in 13 games against the Bruins. Hart is allowing a porous 3.90 goals per game and saving only 87.7 percent of shots. Let’s watch, see, and hope that Carter Hart can remedy these troubles.