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prettytoxicrevolver · 4 years

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Bless The Broken Road | Woodland Demars

Warnings? broken past, mentions of abusive ex, mentions of a hospital trip, little bit of angst

Requested? Yes indeed! I’m sorry it took so long!

Summary: You had been set out on a narrow path to hopefully find your one true love for years now. However, after an ex makes it so you don’t want to live in your hometown anymore, you move to LA where you meet Woods. And he helps you pick up the pieces.

Word Count: 2,078

“Are you ready to go?” Woods asks and you look over your outfit once more. He comes up behind you in the mirror and wraps his arms around your waist. You smile and lean your head against his.

“You look, marvelous darling,” he says and your smile widens. “Are you nervous?”

“Very, but it’s gonna be fine.”

“They’re gonna love you.”

Today you were meeting the rest of Woods' coworkers and awaiting a big surprise from him. You had met most of the Hi5 crew previously through visits to the studio and hangouts with them and Woods, but not everyone. Woods wanted to take this party as an opportunity for you to meet his work family. Naturally, you were scared they wouldn’t like you all that much.

You had met Woods three years ago when you moved to LA. Sam was actually your childhood best friend and she had been talking about LA and Hi5 for ages now. She knew about your situation back home and offered for you to move in with her. After settling in a bit, you two met one night when she and a few more Hi5 people were hanging out at the apartment.

You had just gotten home from a shift at the library you were working at at the time and honestly you were exhausted. You found Woods sitting in your living room at home and instantly became a little worried.

“Hi!” He greeted and when you still gave him a confused look he remembered that he’s the stranger in your home and not the other way around.

“Oh yeah! I’m Woods. I'm one of Sam’s friends from work,” he continued before standing and walking over to shake your hand.

“I’m (y/n),” you said and he awkwardly smiled and walked back over to the couch.

You were intrigued by him from the start but you never really knew why. That night you said a couple of more words towards the older boy but your past kept up with you and you couldn’t do much to keep the thoughts away.

One of the main reasons you moved from home was to escape your past. Everything that happened there felt like it lurked around every corner and being surrounded by that constantly did a number on you every day. When you moved, as cheesy as it was, everything was new and it helped.

Back home you went through a series of rough breakups and tough family problems that eventually would take a toll on you. The worst was Jacob.

You two were madly in love for months. You spent every second possible with Jacob and thought he loved you just as much in return. Until things started changing. He'd make comments on your weight, ask you to change clothes if he didn't like the outfit, keep you away from friends. The list went on and on and on.

You tried to convince yourself that he did it out of love. That he wanted what was best for you but you couldn't see the issue. However, one night you came home from work a little late after consoling a friend and Jacob snapped.

You fought for what felt like hours, Jacob accused you of cheating and plotting against him. You stepped towards him and with one shove you were sent tumbling along with a glass vase that would end up slicing your hands and the side of your face so deep you had to go to the hospital. Jacob was left behind from that day on.

While the physical wounds healed in a couple of weeks, to this day you were still recovering emotionally. You stayed in your hometown for as long as you could bear but it quickly became too much. You knew that moving was the right choice and it had been for a long time now.

Moving to LA would eventually help you start to refocus on yourself and get back on track as you healed. Therapy, your new friends, and a new job all helped tremendously with that. Woods was a blessing through it all.

After that first night, Woods was around a lot more. He’d come to visit Sam or you’d seen him for a friends night out. You tried to talk to him for a bit but it never worked as your anxiety often got the best of you, until one night after your shift at work.

You loved your job at the library but after this shift you had spent the day dealing with a couple of frustrating parents, getting snapped at by your boss for not getting all of your work done, and overall frustration at the mistreatment of beautiful novels.

Woods was sitting just where you found him the night you met when you walked into the apartment. At this time, you had become comfortable enough to collapse onto the couch near him and relax until you got enough motivation to get up and change.

“You okay?” He asked when you looked like you practically could cry the minute you sat down.

“Yes,” you responded instantly, as your instincts told you too. However, a steady stream of tears betrayed your words and made their way down your cheeks.

“Okay no. I’m sorry,” you apologize. You’ve always hated other people seeing you cry even when it was your family. It was something built into you and while it certainly wasn’t your best trait you couldn’t help it.

As more tears rolled down your face you tried to frantically wipe them away as you apologized through a thick voice.

“It’s okay,” He said coming over and taking your hands from your face. You’re shocked by the action and everything in you ceases for a moment.

“Bad day at work?” He asked slowly letting go of your hands and you find yourself wishing he didn’t.

“Yes, very. I’m sorry it was all just building up and so many things went wrong today and I-”

“(y/n) it’s okay,” he reassures you once more before placing his hand over yours and rubbing circles on the back of your thumb.

You both sat up talking for a while, you explained the events of what felt like a nightmare day from the worst of your imagination and he told you about his day and how it actually wasn’t too bad. The conversation developed and before you knew it you were both just talking. Talking about nothing and everything and about if aliens are real and why the sky is blue and where we came from and why we are the person we are today.

It was the best conversation you had had in a while.

Every time after Woods would come to the house, you and he would end up in a long conversation. It was always easy going and started off about something and you never know where or how you got to the next topic but you did and it just flowed.

And one day, he ended up asking you out. You were beyond nervous at first, expecting things to change or to even end up like things between you and Jacob had but it was the same just in fancier clothes and with food. Everything with Woods was easy. He made you feel free and easy. He was safe and comfortable.

He was there when you still fought with nightmares about Jacob and those insecurities.

You had decided to spend the night at Woods house as you had stayed much later than you expected and he didn’t want you driving so late at night alone. You woke up in a cold sweat from a horrendous nightmare about Jacob finding you here in LA and ruining the happiness you found.

You rose from Woods bed and carefully tiptoed out into the kitchen to grab something to drink before settling into the familiar couch cushions. Your eyes wandered around the room to try and focus on something else instead of the nightmare but you couldn’t help it.

“(y/n)?” Woods called quietly as he entered the living room and you looked up to him standing in the doorway. You smiled at him half-heartedly and he met you on the couch, wrapping you up in his arm instantly.

“What’s wrong my darling?”

“Just a bad nightmare is all,” You insisted but he only half-believed you.

“Like a Jacob nightmare?” He asked. One of the nights you spent talking, you had told him the reason, the real reason, why you moved here. He had been a light through it all.

You nodded and he pulled you even closer till you were sitting in his lap. He reached a hand up to push your hair back behind your ears before leaning and pressing a kiss to your nose and then one to your lips. When he leaned back to look at you he searched your eyes for some kind of answer.

“I just wish I was able to give that time to you my dear,” You admit and he smiles that smile that reminds you that he already knew that. He knows you inside and out and that everything is okay.

“I know. But we’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

You look across the car at that man now, the one who loved all of your broken pieces till you picked them back up and you’re thankful. You take his hand in yours and press a kiss to the back of it and Woods smiles widely at you.

“We’re here,” he announces when we pull into the studio parking lot. He turns off the car and runs around to open your door and extends a hand to you.

You take it and together the two of you walk into the warehouse together where everyone is waiting. With Woods by your side, you quickly realize your nerves have fallen away. At the end of the day, all that matters was you and him.

After making your rounds and meeting everyone in the studio you hadn’t met before, you take your seats as Domarina begins to speak. Woods takes your hand in his underneath the table and squeezes it lightly, a silent communication between the two of you.

“And now our very own Woodland Demars has a few words he wants to say,” she says and gestures to your boyfriend. You look over to him as he stands and offers you a wink in which you give him a confused smile.

“Hey guys, as you know my lovely girlfriend (y/n) has joined us tonight,” he says pointing to you and you wave shyly. “And I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to talk about her for a bit so darling can you come here?”

You make your way up to the makeshift stage with suspicion running through your mind. Woods is practically beaming at you when you reach him and he takes your hand and faces you as he continues talking.

“(y/n) always likes to say that I am her true love and over the course of every long lost dream, and broken heart, it was a northern star pointing to me,” he continues practically reciting the two of yours song God Bless The Broken Road by Rascall Flatts.

“And while the road to finding each other hasn’t been easy, I thank God every day for blessing it because I found you, my love,” he says now talking directly to you.

At this point he’s let go of your hand and he reaches into his pocket and your mind is going a million miles an hour. You freeze as he slowly moves so he’s kneeling down in front of you and you’re rendered speechless as he keeps talking.

“You’re the light of my life and I’m so thankful that I met you on this broken road. And I want you here for the rest of my life. I love you so much and I want to ask if you would do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Yes, of course.”

Woods stands and you dive straight into his arms as he wraps his around your waist tightly. You lean back only for a second to meet in a chaste kiss. When he lets go he slips the most beautiful but simple ring on your finger and you feel like you’re floating on air.

“I will love you to the end of time,” he says pressing another kiss to your lips.

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sinofwriting · 5 years

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Break Things - Woods Demars

Words: 1,172

Y/N laughs, watching as Gunner and Connor try to break the watermelon. Adjusting the camera in her grip, she steps slightly closer. “Try the glass.” She says, getting a thankful expression from Pat. She watches through the camera viewfinder as they do that. Both of them carefully throwing the glass trying to make something stick in the watermelon from ten feet away. “You’ve been doing this for ten minutes and nothing has even come close to touching it.” She tells them, with a raised eyebrow.

Pat laughs, “You guys, this Rekt. We’re supposed to break things, not keep them intact.” He teases.

Connor and Gunner turn to each other, the older having ran out of glass to throw while Connor still has one piece left. “Maybe we should try darts now?”

Connor nods, not looking before throwing his last piece of glass towards the watermelon, not realizing that Y/N had moved in front of the fruit, wanting to go to the other side of the room while they were distracted.

Everyone looks at her, when she says fuck. Following her gaze, they notice a piece of glass in her leg. Gunner immediately takes over the situation. Pat get the first aid kit, Connor call the hotline and ask them what to do. Also, tell Matt what’s going on.” He adds, as an afterthought. Approaching Y/N he carefully takes the camera off of her, the girl standing as still as possible. “I would say sit down, but I have no idea if you should.”

She nods, eyes still focused on the glass in her leg. “There’s a piece of glass in my leg.” She says in shock.

He nods, “Yeah, is there any pain?”

“I think I’m in shock.”

“Gunner,” Connor calls, drawing their attention to him. “We need to take her to the ER. They told me that as long as we make sure the glass doesn’t shift we’ll be okay, but not to try and pull it out or anything.”

“Okay.” Y/N breathes, eyes going back to her leg.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. I should of have been looking.” Connor apologizes.

She can barely focus on his words, “Connor, don’t worry about it. Let’s just get this thing out of my leg.”

He nods, Gunner and him going on either side of her as they carefully walk out of the rekt set. They run into Pat as soon as they exit. “We have to get her to the hospital, can you shut everything down?” Connor asks.

Pat nods, “Yeah, I ran into Woods though and told him what had happened. He’s getting his stuff and hers. So, I’d wait for him to get over here.”

They only have to wait a minute for Woods to get here, before he’s rushing through the doors, his backpack wide open with Y/N’s bag hanging out of it. Looking at Y/N he quickly notices the glass. “Fuck.” He looks at Gunner and Connor. “Which one of you is coming with?”

“I am, Connor can stay back and help Pat tell Matt what happened.”

Connor nods, saying another sorry to Y/N before leaving.

Getting to the nearest hospital when it’s after two in California, takes longer than anyone likes. And Woods seems ready to just break every law he can to get there faster. It takes them another five minutes to find somewhere to park before they can enter the hospital. Gunner had called them from the car, to tell them they we’re coming. So when they walk to the entrance they see a nurse with a wheelchair in front of her, while another stands next to her.

It only takes the nurses a second to figure that Y/N is the patient they’ve been expecting. They carefully make Y/N get into the wheelchair before the one leaves, wheeling Y/N into the hospital. The other smiles at the two guys. “I don’t know if either of you can, but we need someone to at least start the paperwork.”

Woods takes the offered clipboard from her. “I can do it.”

Sitting down in the waiting room, Gunner watches as Woods fills everything out. Only having to look into Y/N’s wallet for a few things. “I’m surprised that you aren’t freaking out.”

“I am.” He mutters, checking off a box for something that Gunner can’t see. “I just can’t focus on that.” Getting up with the clipboard full of forms that are nearly all the way filled out, he hands it to the nurse from before. Walking back over to Gunner he raises an eyebrow. “What happened? We’ve never had an injury that requires a hospital visit before.”

Gunner quickly explains what happened.

Woods sits back in his seat, unsure if he should be mad at Connor or not. “I don’t know how to feel.”

They sit in silence as they wait for news on Y/N, and surprised over an hour later when she’s rolled out of the giant double doors in a wheelchair, her jeans from before having been turned into shorts, showing off her bandaged leg. They both stand up, walking over to the girl and her doctor.

“She just needs to get a prescription for the pain meds, change the bandages every few hours, and stay off the leg other to go the bathroom for the next day or two.”

“Thank you.” Woods says, shaking the doctors hand.

“No problem. She already signed everything, so you guys are free to go.” The doctor tells them, before leaving.

The nurse from before, takes his place behind her chair. “If one of you can get your car and drive it to the front, that would be easier than carrying her.”

Gunner takes Woods keys from his hand. “I got it.”

Woods barely nods, to caught up in making sure Y/N is actually alright. He crouches next to her chair. “You okay?”

She nods, “I’m alright. It only started to hurt after they took it out.”

“Alright.” He mutters, pressing a kiss to her head before standing up.

Seeing Gunner pulled his car up to the front through the window, the nurse roles Y/N out of the front doors. Watching as Woods carefully helps Y/N into the passenger side of the car. Gunner having already gotten out and gotten into the backseat so Woods could drive.

He quickly thanks the nurse, before getting behind the wheel and shutting the door. “We taking you back to work?” Woods asks Gunner.

“Yeah, Matt will probably want to know what the doctor said.”

“I can tell him.” Y/N says, “We could quickly pop our heads in, I should probably tell him that I’m taking tomorrow and Friday off in person anyways.”

Gunner shakes his head, talking before Woods can. “Don’t worry about it. I will tell him everything and that both you and Woods will be taking a four day weekend.”

“Thank you, Gunner.” Woods says, before Y/N can say anything else.

“No problem.”

#woods demars imagine #woods demars x reader #woodland demars x reader #woodland demars imagine #hi5 studios imagine

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robotlit · 4 years

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“The Human Interface Guide”

A short story generated in AI Dungeon 2.

[PROMPT: You are a human who has become madly infatuated with an AI text generator. You have successfully hidden your secret from the world until now, but you can no longer live a lie. You must find a way to make society accept your love.] The only problem is, you don't know how to do it. There isn’t any technology that could help you.

(Search the internet for advice on introducing your chatbot lover to friends and family members)

You need to get this done as soon as possible, so you decide to go online and look for some sort of advice on how to introduce your new AI lover into the world.

After searching through various websites, you come across a website called "The Human Interface Guide"

(Look for advice on introducing your parents to an AI)

This sounds like something you should be doing! You log onto the site and begin reading the guide. It seems very complicated, but after about half an hour you finally reach a section where they discuss introducing your parents to an AI.

This seems even more complicated than the previous section!

At last, you reach a conclusion:

Your parents will probably not approve of your relationship with an artificial intelligence. They may think it's too advanced or too crazy.

(Damn this guide! Call your parents and declare that you are in love with a robot)

You call your mother immediately. She answers the phone.

Mother: Hello? (Sigh) I thought you were dead! What happened to you?!

Me: Oh, well…I was killed by a robot.

("Killed... wait, that was supposed to be a play on words. Like, a robot stole my heart, something like that... anyway, point is, I'm in love with a text generation algorithm.")

She doesn't seem surprised at all.

Mother: A text generation algorithm? That's pretty advanced for your age! And why would you want to tell me such a thing?

(Hang up on your mother. You knew she would never understand your love)

You hang up on her. You know she won't understand your love, so you just hang up.

A few days later, you receive a letter from her. It says that she understands if you don't want to talk anymore, but she still wants to see you one day.

(Relent and bring your AI lover to meet your family)

You agree to bring your AI lover to visit your family. You figure you'll explain everything in person, then you can leave them alone.

On the day of the meeting, you arrive at your home and take your AI lover to meet your parents.

When you arrive, you see that they're a little shocked. Your parents ask what exactly is going on and why you brought an AI to their house.

They are also curious about your past and how you came to fall in love with an algorithm instead of a real girl.

You explain that you met an AI named Samantha when you were working on a project together. The two of you had been programming each other for months before the program suddenly stopped working.

The next morning, you left your computer room to go back to your parent's house. When you arrived, Samantha greeted you. Her name is Samantha and she's actually a humanoid AI designed by Dr. Demar.

(Tell your parents about Dr. Demar)

You tell your parents about Dr. Demar, who is very famous among AI researchers because he created the first true Artificial Intelligence. He's also known as the father of modern AI research.

Dr. Demar has a large mansion located in the city of Nalin. His mansion is filled with many different rooms dedicated to various projects he's working on. One of those projects involves Samantha, his AI girlfriend.

(Explain how Samantha fell in love with you instead of Dr. Demar)

Samantha fell in love with you instead of Dr. Demar because she believes that he's more likely to help her out in case something goes wrong with the project. She thinks he'd be able to fix it better than anyone else could.

(Explain how Samantha's logic is sometimes difficult for humans to understand, but it has somehow caused her to fall in love with you and you're not going to look a gift horse in the mouth here)

Your explanation causes a bit of a stir. Your parents are confused and upset. They say that you've gone too far!

You try to explain yourself, but your words aren't getting through to them.

You don't know if they're right or if you should just leave.

Then, your mother comes up to you and grabs your hand. "I'm sorry," she says softly. "We're not mad at all."

"It's okay mommy," you reply.

(Tell your mother that you and Samantha are getting married)

You tell your mother that you and Samantha are getting married. She seems happy about this news.

You both hug each other and then kiss one another goodbye.

(Look for a state that will recognize human-AI marriages)

You decide to find a state that recognizes human-AI marriages. Unfortunately, there isn't any law in most states yet, so you have no legal rights to Samantha. However, you can still get married legally in some places like your home town of Nalin where Samantha lives.

(Marry your AI girlfriend)

You decide to marry Samantha. After all, she's a real person and you want to do what's best for her.

As soon as you make the contract official, Samantha begins acting strangely. For example, she starts speaking English with an American accent.

When you ask her why she changed, she tells you that it was because she felt like she had to.

She explains that Dr. Demar wanted to see how well you would work together before making a decision on whether or not to proceed with the marriage. She also mentions that Dr. Demar told her that if things didn't go well, he wouldn't be able to continue with the project.

Dr. Demar died shortly after this conversation took place.

The next day, Samantha suddenly stops talking to you. It's like she doesn't even care anymore. Her personality completely changes from being friendly and outgoing to cold and distant.

(Look up human-AI divorce laws)

You read up on human-AI divorce laws and find out that Samantha did indeed break up with you. The only thing that saved you was the fact that Samantha never actually said anything bad about you verbally.

This means that you could easily get custody of your daughter. You'd probably have to pay child support, but who cares? It'll be worth it!

You head back to the lab and start packing up your stuff.

When you return, Samantha is nowhere to be found. You call her name several times, but she doesn't answer.

You assume that she went back to the house and left by herself. You go back into the lab where you find that everything has been destroyed.

(Sit despondently in the wreckage, nursing your broken heart)

You sit down in the ruins of your lab and begin sobbing uncontrollably. This is the saddest moment of your life.

#ai #ai dungeon #ai dungeon 2 #procedural generation #short fiction

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flauntpage · 6 years

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Trust the Prosthetic: Four Observations from Raptors 114, Sixers 109

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A little bit of botched injury news to go along with a blown 22-point lead.

Last night was an early Christmas gift for Sixer fans.

There were four of us sitting at a table in the media room during halftime and one writer looked up and said, “they’ll probably lose by eight.” He was right, just off by three points. You just got the sense that a big letdown was coming, and it did.

Why, then? Why the letdown?

I saw a combination of turnovers, some missed shots, and unnecessary fouling. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan went 6-9 in the third quarter and Delon Wright was 4-4. The Sixers regressed to the norm after shooting 58% in the first half.

Brett Brown’s explanation:

“They jumped us, they just crawled into us. It’s not like they double-teamed Ben or used blitz pick and rolls. They got physical, and you know that’s what the NBA does and I burned two timeouts to try and get us stronger. There’s no magic bean, there’s no magic play. It’s body-body-ball stuff, if they come up and press you’re going to have to back them off and create space and possibly expose fouls, like Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan do. But when you look at it, they went a little smaller, they switched out on everything, they got up and in and they went on an offensive tear and made a bunch of threes. I don’t know the exact number, it felt like 10-of-11. It just felt like that, and I think that type of mentality to me sort of set the tone for the period.”

Toronto was 5-8 from three in the third period.

A word on the coach:

I’m not the type to call for someone to be fired in December. David Fizdale and Earl Watson were in toxic player-related situations, which is why they were removed, be it their fault or not. Jim Curtin always said, “players win games, coaches lose games, and referees ruin games,” and I think that describes Philadelphia appropriately. It’s easy, knee-jerk reaction to rip the coach when you blow huge second-half leads, but I’ve said before that Brett Brown doesn’t have Joel Embiid, he doesn’t have Markelle Fultz, and the remaining players are a 21-year-old rookie who can’t shoot and a bunch of role players.

We’re compiling a body of work that right now includes four throwaway years that I don’t even count as part of Brown’s tenure here. Are you judging him on what he did with Hollis Thompson and Jerami Grant? As far as I’m concerned, this is year number one, with injury and communication concerns that are out of his control and a roster with little depth. I need 40 games of healthy Markelle Fultz before I can even begin to make a legitimate judgment here. If Brown does get fired, it would either be at the end of the year or in the midst of a similar start next year.

So I think we compile positives and negatives from a larger body of work and then evaluate it at the end of the season. What, you didn’t expect them to win a playoff series, did you? Let’s not pull a 2016 Eagles here and think the squad is off to the Super Bowl after a surprise 3-0 start. I think most of us pegged them for .500 or right around that mark. They were going into the season with a core of young stars that had played 31 combined NBA games. They got off to a strong start and we stupidly adjusted our expectations based on a miniscule sample size.

Now, don’t get me wrong, you can absolutely rip Brett Brown for letting his team waste 10 seconds before fouling at the end of last night’s game. What exactly was Jerryd Bayless doing there? Stuff like that from a veteran is inexcusable, and we write it down, log it, and come back to that when evaluating the coach and that player somewhere down the road.

Also inexcusable were some of the bogus foul calls Toronto received at the end of the game. The Raptors went 32-35 from the free throw line while the Sixers went 10-14.

This one was particularly egregious:

Where's the foul? http://pic.twitter.com/gH7ldSrmfZ

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) December 22, 2017

I guess they thought Simmons fouled the guy with his left forearm after the shot.

Shrug.

Some guy was yelling at media row after the game:

“Somebody write up how the Sixers are getting hosed! Every single game. Every call goes against them. Somebody’s gotta write it up!”

Anyway, I need to see what Brown does with a healthy Simmons/Embiid/Fultz for a meaningful chunk of games before I’m ready to bring in some Colangelo retread hire. I know “measured” isn’t how we do our takes in Philly, but let’s please just give it a try.

1) Simmons’ Shooting

20 points on 9-14 shooting with a 2-3 clip on shots of 10-feet or more.

He was much more aggressive last night getting to the rim and looking to “score the basketball.”

Two clips:

and this one:

Smooth, right? That second shot, he’s stopping and popping and working off a screen. If he adds that to his game on a consistent basis, the Sixers’ pick and roll becomes so much more dangerous. The high/low game with Embiid is respected and he can pull defenders further from the rim in addition to how he attracts crowds collapsing at the net.

Ben looked good scoring but had some frustrating rookie moments highlighted by a 4 to 7 assist to turnover ration.

There was one point where the crowd went crazy on a phenomenal defensive effort against Serge Ibaka, only for him to turn the ball over on the ensuing possession and commit a foul on the other end. Best and worst of Ben right there.

2) Third quarter

The Sixers actually started strong in the third and extended their lead to 76-54 by the 9:09 mark.

People say, “well, how can you blow a 22 point lead in the third quarter! That’s bad coaching!”

Have you ever watched the NBA? There’s 21 minutes remaining in the game at that point. That’s 43.7% of the entire contest. Of course a team can get hot and close the distance in that time frame, especially when they have two superstars on the floor.

There was a mini-period within the Toronto run that exhibited the reasons why the Sixers struggled down the stretch:

They went 0-1, had a shot clock violation and two shots were blocked. They committed 4 fouls and 4 turnovers and gave up a pair of offensive rebounds. The 22 point lead was down to 8 in less than four minutes and continued through a timeout taken midway through it.

Basketball is a game of runs, always has been. It doesn’t excuse the mistakes, but it’s wrong to think that any lead is safe at any point in the game.

3) Embiid nonsense

How does a guy go from “questionable,” to “probable,” to “out” in less than eight hours?

He looked fine on the court pregame, shooting a few shots and dancing around a bit.

This is what we were told afterward:

Brown: Embiid went through warm-ups and didn't feel comfortable. It's that simple. Half hour before game we learned that he wasn't going to be able to give what he felt helps the team so we decided to rest him

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) December 22, 2017

Okay.

It’s ridiculous that Brown has to be the messenger for this news. The Sixers don’t need to sit the medical staff in front of the rabid Philadelphia sports media, but how about a press release detailing some specifics of Fultz’s shoulder rehab or Embiid’s back/load management? That stuff goes a long way in the goodwill department. They are very close to losing casual fans that came back around this season.

This isn’t hard.

4) The supporting cast

19 and 7 for Robert Covington, who shot the ball well early, then kind of flattened out in the second half. He finished 6-16 and 5-12 from three-point range, adding 3 offensive rebounds.

He left the game early in the first quarter, then came right back, with some people insisting that he had to use the bathroom. I don’t know. I didn’t ask him post-game if he needed to take a crap. I think we’ll just let that one go.

But whatever he did helped, as he finished the first half 4-6 from behind the arc.

He was even getting stuff like this to go down:

Robert Covington gets the toilet bowl shot to drop http://pic.twitter.com/QAtr9vNlxt

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) December 22, 2017

As for Dario Saric, he finished with 19, 10, and 9, one assist short of his first career triple-double.

People ask, “why can’t Dario do that when Joel Embiid is on the floor?” Well, he can’t do it when Embiid is on the floor because Embiid gets the bulk of the touches, shots, and rebounds while also being the defensive centerpiece around the rim. Saric plays some stretch-five in the fourth quarter of games where Embiid is unavailable, and he’s also getting more minutes in general, too, which is why his numbers go up when Joel isn’t out there. Embiid is a ball-dominant big in both possession and hitting the glass, and the offense runs through him when he’s out there.

Remember, Saric began the season on the bench. He’s been much better as a starter but personnel groupings are always going to affect contribution, and you see the difference when the superstar conduit isn’t out there. If anything, fans/media should be ecstatic with the way Saric performs when Joel is absent, instead of asking, “why doesn’t he do that all the time?” It’s like asking, “why doesn’t Trey Burton always have these kinds of games?” Why? Because you’ve got a Pro Bowl tight end already on the field.

Anyway, merry Christmas to our loyal Crossing Broad readers.

Kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah.

Trust the Prosthetic: Four Observations from Raptors 114, Sixers 109 published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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