Adrian Fedkiw
Who says Philadelphia isn’t classy?
76ers center Nerlens Noel received a standing ovation from the Wells Fargo Center crowd midway through the third quarter of their 108-93 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.
Nice ovation for Nerlens Noel checking in pic.twitter.com/uz5shMcQP0
— Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) December 21, 2016
Noel played seven minutes, made both of his field goal attempts and finished with four points and three rebounds.
The big man is clearly not thrilled with his situation and the logjam in the 76ers frontcourt, saying before the year that a roster featuring a trio of talented bigs wouldn’t work. Then he decided to get elective surgery on his knee and now finds himself on the bench after voicing his displeasures about his playing time following an eight-minute outing against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. The Sixers refuse to call it a benching, however. Noel commented on the crowd reaction after the game.
Joel Embiid, meanwhile, posted 11 points and six boards, but was just 4-of-12 from the floor in a showdown against Anthony Davis, who tallied 31 points and 16 rebounds for the Pelicans.
[Editor’s note: Some people at the game chimed in and thought the cheers for Noel were more mock cheers than anything. Did anyone else at the game feel that way?]