Our first swing game of the series. Win, and you keep home court advantage in your back pocket. Lose, and you'll have to take another in Chicago to win the series. This is the biggest game of Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner's careers to this point. How will they respond?
Doug Collins wants it to be 'raucous' tonight at the WFC. I'm typically not a raucous fan when I attend, but I will be there, anxiously awaiting the mind-blowing player intros. There's something special about playoff basketball, more than any other sport as far as I'm concerned. I was at the Yanks clinching game 6 of the World Series in 2009, I was there for Aaron Boone's walk-off against the Red Sox in 2003 and Derek Jeter's in the series in 2001, but nothing was as crazy as the Sixers playoff games I attended in Iverson's prime. I hope the place is packed tonight, and I hope the Sixers give the crowd something to cheer for. I hope...
The tip is at 8pm on ESPN2, I believe. This is your game thread. You guys are on your own, keep it civil, have fun.
Prediction: 2-1 sounds good to me.
If you're at the game, we're sitting in section 123, stop by.
I will be at Game 5 on Tuesday, so the Sixers need to at least split this weekend. Tonight would be as good a game to win as any.
In my seat. AI9 and Thad getting shots up. AI9 isn't limping, that I can tell.
same starting lineup as game 2
Doesn't surprise me. Hope Hawes shows a sack tonight.
you have a better chance of winning the lottery
OK down.in my seats and there are clearly flamethrowers set up for the pregame intros, no sign of anything else yet tho...
What an intro!! TNT, take note.
Goodie Mob leading off?.... heh, we're surely winning this one... That was a nice piece.
What did I miss? Turned it on as they announced ET. Outside of introducing Dr. J randomly it seemed normal from there.
Wilbon pumping up ET, said he's backed up the trash he's talked, mentioned the competition w/ DRose, then blah blah blah
..then they all get a shit-eating grin laugh off at the end saying "Philadelphia in the ECF Finals?...lol lol"
Noise.
You guys are certainly better off at the WFC tonight.
They got DRose giving game balls, we got Dr. J giving them. Yeah reason #2 we're gonna win... heh again! No disrespect obviously..
Good defense Evan on the first possession. Good ass job.
And sorry, we sadly run our first damn possession thru SH... i hate to say him name...
Brick, ET.
Testbook D ET on Rip. great
Just keep the nerves suppressed early here....
Ohhhhh goood..
nope Deng fouled, shit
need to rebound
Uh oh, Crawford better not come with no mess....
oh god
That 3 earned an audible wow on the couch
Well, hell just froze over. Spence made a desperation inbound 3. Yes, he just did.
son of a .... heh
Dre clank. come on need you tonight buddy
The offense seems whack, but I like the look of the defense.
God damn Hawes, you gotta catch that rebound.
Spence slow on weakside after EB gets taken for 2nd time by Boozer.
ET clank deep. Runout for Rip. Ugh
jrue floater
Jrue floating floater.
Holiday looks comfortable, he's the key if we're gonna get any offense in the half court.
Alright they're chanting "airball" on CJ, do it every single time he touches the ball from here on out!
Dre..
Get Lavoy's ass in, really. Just do and watch.
as SH proceeds to get an o-board and J. heh
sissy jumper
Brand getting dirty. Love it. Yes!!!
Someone needs to bump the ref
These games now just have that grind it out type feel to em. They're without their star, we don't have one. Just keep battling them and eventually hope they succumb, or hope that you're the one that can arise. The home crowd can be huge, that is, if they give them reasons to be.
et right by rip
EB aggressive as hell for the second time after the ET strong move. wow...kid
And to ET on Rip again, but Spence is the unfortunate recipient.
ET hustling his ass off like never before! wow
2 on Jrue. Damn.
Come on, another possession started with an entry pass to SH... shit why man?
Lou throws a TO off it...
Well, they should have given the obvious call, but ET shouldn't settle vs him. go by him like you did the first time so easily
Our defense is swarming. So hectic-like. Just fast and in your face type shit. Love it,....
.... they've seemed to take on the attitude of their purported, that which I don't believe, crazy head coach.
That's good ball, coached and executed. Good stuff.
lou fade away
Oh my goodness!.... Thibs just said, "Hawes is wide open! You've got to veer back and get him!".
Classic.
Oh Evan, get in the paint son, don't keep giving it to SH for crying out loud, I understand he's setting the pick. but just don't give it to him.
Lavoy having to help for ET, gets back slower to Boozer. Bucket. ugh
Ugh Lou you maybe could have passed it.
Let's see Thad be loose here early in his first run.
Bad shot early 3 Dre. we get it back...
Deng stepped under him. Should have been a call...
Tough first quarter. Have to step the intensity up cause they're matching us early sort of.
Lucas garbage at the end. he earned it though,good form
Ugh three guys let Noah get that one off? man..
Jrue probing, and depositing.
Oh pass it back out Thad... ugh
lou floater
Thad outlet to Lou, turns into two.
Thad, drawing a charge. Such an irritant for a defense.
Thad, not the charge....
Lou w/ 8 pts in 8 min
SH with another run. stupendous.
ET clank from 3. Bulls get a dunk.
SH with his usual bull
What were Aaron and Curry telling Jrue there? anyone know?
Hawes with a surefire bailout call from the refs...so weak and he actually goes to the line, i'll take it.
Makes both.
Please stop going to SH. just please stop it. he does get a rare d board. jeebus though, doug just play Lavoy and Battie please
keep shooting long 2's and you will lose
Thad looks uncontrolled, but gets a call.
Lucas 3, i always like that kid at OKSt
Make both Thad, please.
Dag Thad that was ugly
Good defense Bulls give it up off the trap from Meeks/Thad.
Lucas is eating Lou's lunch. Christ.
Come on THad, secure the ball son...
Good defense, Joey doesn't know, asks Sixers ball
Evan might have gotten another bailout call, but still Dre has to swing that immediately, he can't hold it like that and give their D the obvious delayed advantage.
Great take by Evan. 3 on Deng
wow, SH receives another run at the end of the quarter. geez
great team D again!
nice job evan
Love when Turner plays like this
ET with 3 great plays in a row. Rip flailing his way to the line twice in a row
Since blows, refs kindly hold the whistles, and brand drops the rebound
Lou doesn't give it up quick enough after the trap came, Thad missed J.
Lou early probe, bucket. Stops!
CJ = 0 pts
Deng = 2 pts
They're treating Rip like MJ. What a fucking joke
Get two stops here to end it, please.
Refs are really trying to bail the Bulls out.
Noah dives, Hawes flails low. typical
Joey Crawford has money on this game
please stop, just no i shudder to think
Too much SH touching the ball at crucial times for the teams', and my liking. ugh
thad tip in
Yes!!!
One stop!
ugh Boozer
come on Lou, way short though. ugh no arc
@tmoorepburbs
#Sixers Julius Erving to be strategic adviser to team and new ownership group
Way too many whistles in that first half. You look at Rip, he goes to the line. Less jumpers on O, keep it up on D.
agree, and he's shooting atrociously from the field too, too many freebies.
come on up the energy here to start. let's go!!! come on...
The Sixers MUST win this game. They have never won a playoff game on the date May 6th since the 80s.
hawes just missed 2 layups
another missed layup then he trucks deng
*noah
SH with his usual passive mess
This game is obviously low scoring, just seize control of it. not like that Boozer though...
Well, Rip asked Evan not to talk like that, he kept doing it, wow, don't know what to say about that exchange, interesting...
Evan gets a call on Rip, deserved or not...
Jrue, dancing and prancing. Jrue is hype! love it...
dont cheer
Good depth Evan, ugh got to hit that, runout, uh oh Noah's down, no way, really
Uhoh down goes Noah...but he gets back up
thank goodness he walked off, the fans were rather disrespectful
Would be a double asterisk if they won the series because both Rose and Noah were out. Why cheer?
That's Philly fans for u they will boo anybody
Jrue airball,
EB miss. come on...Noah is dinged..
Noah limping badly up the court, dammit put battie and Lavoy in and go after him!!
Whoooo, ET for 3!!!! +1
nope clank
noah pushed the cameraman down
Noah up the tunnel
damn CB
SH with the wussy specialty
Luol? no...
yes charge for Thad, close though
come on Jrue, no way man..
This game is for the taking, as crazy as it sounds, just go friggin' get it! please!
ET! with the btw the legs from DRe. wow, to the line, make it please he does. come on...
and they proceed to give up a fuckin dunk wow
and an Asik lay-in. too easy. sheesh. such poor effort and execution, being exploited
No call? Taj down? hope not...
my goodness... is all i can say
Well there goes their best chance to take over this damn game
Wtf no call for thad, another crippled bull, and philly loses the ball all alone
I'm sorry, but Noah and Gibson are robots. With the way tonight they have bounced back from horrific-looking instances.
Lavoy tips it. Interference!
actually it was not even interference.
what a shit quarter.
4 of 21 shots that period, we all knew that wasn't sustainable from last game, but not even putting it in the rim at all?, just so helter-skelter like, this damn team has been all year... so erratic
tonight, no doubt...
I hate Thibs face. Someone needs to hit him
Wow the new sideline chick is about half the size mirakovitz was
In other words, this game isn't hard to win, just go get it, but is a game that would be utterly frustrating to watch at the local bar.
they're up doubles 11 ..geez
So much time left, a game of runs.. lets go!
F me... wow just garbage.. box the eff out... shit
Noone saw that coming Spence.
One question - why do you even throw that pass if you're SH? how? dammit how?
RIp... shit man, what a bummer so many min for SH
Jrue +1...come on
Good take from Jrue. Attack noah please.
F me Noah hitting one... geez
SH with the non challenged garbage passivity
Welp, Thad can't rebound
Taj is shoving... dammit
After what happened to Rose, you'd think Thibs would be a little more conservative with his injured players no?
why? might as well sell out, considering what he has to throw out there.
Thad +1 to the line, Noah is a trooper, just sayin
Hope he plays the final 8 mins.
DAMMIT DOUG GET BATTIE IN THERE
I really don't understand the traveling rule in the NBA.
come on Lou...
Jrue board..
Jrue patting, SH with a make, say it ain't so, bout time
EB!! you've got to hit that, you ain't made shit...
down 5 lets go!!!!!!
better left unsaid!!! let's go
Spencer is FINALY playing like a man so of course they play the damn rally killing 70s song
He hasn't changed anything, they stopped guarding him. He gets wide open layups and 20 footers, he should ut up points
man Lou, tough luck... sheesh
F me. Boozer putback.. wow just terrible
Alright Jrue, string together some stops! they do!
Lou for 2!! COME ON
Way to fuckin show some mettle...
SH w/ another bailout call for the team tonight, like the 6th or 7th wow... so many that went our way..........
What a brick Dre. what a brick wowo
Why even fire that up Dre? just not a high IQ play at all. That moment, and that point in the game with the time and all, just a straight killa'
I think he called glass.
I liked the shot, he had time to set his feet though
Please win this damn game. Just do it. he missed both, get a good look please..
oh hawes
Well SH, so you do... rare i know but still.
Yes, Dre on the stop, ET secures it,...
Et w/ it.. foul to the line. make both please kid. just do
Amazing how good this team is with a real center
come on. just make my, the community's night, and Brian's and tk's ride home more worth the wait. Win this damn game fight
No 3's!! none...!!!!
F me! harbinger of things to come....
ET grinding to the line! way to fight and display effort kid! come on just bring this home!
hit these!!!
yeah SH misses it. Tirico calls SH the "hero of the night"... EB beasting.
Jrue to the line.. good effort, good job
ugh he missed the first one, need these freebies. come on Jrue make this second one, he does...
great effort evan
Loving ET today
this game runs the absolute gamut of emotions. unbelieveable, glad to be a part of it
one
stop
please?
Jrue w/ the icing on the cake!
We shot 11-12 of FT's in 4th
unheard of
!!!!!!!
I'm so elated. Hope everyone is out there in Sixer land!
I wonder what Iggy told ET
me too...
he isnt good but there was times in the 4th where spence hit a couple shots, so credit to him
SH with the postgame wrap on SC, more unexpected. said DC told him to fire away. i'll take it...
ill be interested to see how noah's ankle is, looked bad but hes tough so as long as nothing is broken he should play but he probably isnt 100%
Evan turner wanted the ball in the clutch. Makes it easier for everyone else.
I wonder who the POTG is. Hawes had a good shooting night but his ineptitude on the glass is the reason why the Bulls had such a large lead. It would be a toss up between Turner and Holiday. I'd give to Holiday, he was able to get 17 points, 6 rebs and 6 assts in 31 minutes.
With this rebounding deficit shortened in the fourth, in no particular thanks to Hawes, he came through with his jumper and brought in the W when nothing was going on the perimeter.
Probe and pass out, probe and pass out, off balance Iguodala jumper misses.
Really wasn't expecting anything near moral victory at that point, but Spence turned it on.
There were two huge plays in this game to me. Rip hit a three to put them up 14, and then Jrue immediately followed with a layup plus the foul. The game could have easily got away from us at that point, but Jrue's bucket got us back in it and then we settled down after that.
And of course, Evan Turner fighting his ass off to get those FTs late in the game was just awesome to watch.
Another good night for Evan and Jrue. Both directly contributed to the fourth quarter turn around. Hawes had his standout game for the series but it was just a hot streak from his usual spots and nothing that can be relied on going forward. I hope he is not rewarded with anything more than encouragement.
If Andre continues to cancel out Deng (and vice versa) it's very likely that the size and strength advantage the 76ers hold on the perimeter will push them to the second round. The Bulls are not going to win if they are relying on Noah to be their scoring leader or Boozer to 16 and 17 footer them into playoff run.
Sad thing is, I think he was actually rewarded tonight with more than encouragement, though he did do well in his stints, which were many.
Spencer friggin' Hawes.
Didn't someone (Brian), or anyonw else, say that if only he could give us a game in this series?
Nice seeing Brian before and during the game. actually bought a ticket to sit with them during the game, thinking I wasn't going to get credentialed, but was happy to trade that in.
It's a great night for Sixers fans. No other way to put it.
exactly that. my internet was giving me loads of problems and i had to reset my router a dozen times in order to keep getting the stream going again. so glad i endured all of that. great win and great day for us all.
Did anyone else here Doc tell Molly Sullivan that they should "hang out sometime" after she did a quick interview with him? First the dude kisses Javale McGee's mom on the mouth at the All Star break last year, and now this. Dude is an unapologetic player.
Great last few minutes. The combination of the deflating Noah injury and the crowd getting fired up a few minutes later somehow translated into a monster shift in momentum. Really ugly 43 minutes and then an exhilarating finish.
I had not been to a game for a while, and until the closing minutes I was unsure if the arena ever got really loud. It was certainly hopping down the stretch - I'd love to see a game that had that intensity all game. But even those 5 minutes made the trip worthwhile and a memorable one. Great to talk hoops with our fearless leader, and hope to get yo talk more with Derek at a later game. Hope they can keep this playoff run going long enough that they are still playing when I'm back in town in a couple of weeks.
Also being at a game when fans cheer an opponent's injury is awkward. I almost wanted to apologize to the Bulls fans sitting in front of us.
yeah, thought the same thing where I was sitting. It got legit loud down the stretch, would love to see that place rocking at capacity, hopefully Sunday?
I cringed a little bit at the Noah thing, Noah is a pest but you don't want to see anything like that. Thankfully the Rose injury didn't happen here, can you imagine the national backlash? Would be the new throwing snowballs at santa...
As a fan in was tough to get formed up through most of the game. Either good D or bad O on both ends- coupled with a lot of ticky tack fouls called on both ends led to no real flow or energy until the Bulls made their push in the late 3rd. Then the place got loud and the Sixers made their huge cpunterpunch.
*fired up
Man, great, great time at the WFC tonight. So happy to finally put a face to the TK76 handle, great to see Derek. Up 2-1, sleep well, guys. I'll have a wrap tomorrow.
Jrue, Evan or (gulp) Spencer for POTG?
yfrog.com/klfszomxj
There is no way Hawes gets it. He may have made some shots, but he was wide open all night long and yet still managed to miss a ton of key layups. The missed jumpers along with the bad rebounding is what brought Chicago the lead.
I'd say it's a toss up between Jrue and Turner. Turner didn't have his shot falling, yet still managed to have a terrific game in every aspect of it, not just boxscore stuff. And Holiday was a beast when he was on the floor, he looked like he could do whatever he wanted to.
The important thing in both Game 2 and this one os the FTs. It doesn't matter if your shots aren't falling if you get to the FT line. The Sixers shot 34% (and were outshot by the Bulls), yet still won. 14 FTs in the fourth is exactly, how you win close games. The lack of it during the regular season is why they lost so many of them.
Good job kids. Keep it up. This is far from over.
Wow-wasn't that something Brian??
To me, no question about it, Evan has to be the player of the game. I say has to be because I believe we will look back on this game as the moment Evan Turner captured the hearts of Philadelphia basketball fans.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect as far as crowd went-so I was thrilled when I walked into a genuine sell out, and genuine playoff electricity/anticipation. I think you can attribute that to the sense that Turner is in the midst of a breakout series. Fans in this town feed off emotional connections. Turner seems to feed off of it too-like Iverson, he thrives off of the emotional energy...
The end of the game to me is the clincher. Turner did everything to lock it down, he was all over the place-he HAD to win that game and he was not going to allow it to slip away...
After he knocked down the first pair of ft's(65% on the year, 4/4 in the final minute of a playoff game) to push the lead to 4, he made a classic "haven't been here before" mistake early in the shot clock, laying off of rip just for an instant, and rip wasted no time in using the space, knocking down that 3. turner knew it was a bad mistake-really the only opening theyd given chicago inn rthe final minutesso he was not going to let that lapse erase the work the team had done. he drove baseline and bulldozed into the lane, got blocked fot it back, another scramble, comes away with it takes it up gets hacked-2/2. he did what he had to do to win the game
in fact, just his defensive rebounding in the fourth quarter is enough to earn him the nod in my mind-the sixers were absolutely murdered earlier in the second half by their inability to keep the bulls off the offensive glass. the sixers were playing great defense, forcing bad shots at the end of the clock, only to see it wiped away with an offensive board and a quick bucket vefore the d can get set. There was a stretch where you would've thought the bulls had different rules, they got two possessions and we got one.
Turner adjusted his focus and grabbed a bunch of defensive boards in the 4th, each of them vital because well who else was gonna do it?
i can see hawes getting a good look at player of the game. but-he blew FIVE point blank shots off of good looks in the first three quarters-i believe 3 in the 3rd alone, 2 coming back to back on the same poss. His weapon offensively was a shot that is kinda like a nursing home for nga big en-a last refuge before cutting the cord, but it really isn't the same and no one ever visits.
Is it eddie that is always ranting about the island of misfit toys?never was that more apt than in the 4th quarter, which featured our putative shooting guard with 18 ft range who really has been moved to the point so slowly that it's almost imperceptible((can't tell jrue, he had a bad experience in college), while our 7footer knocks down a parade of deep rwos.
("i want jrue to attack," "i want jrue to look for his shot"...meanwhile , he only brings the ball yp maybe a 1/3 of the time...doug seemed not to be bothered at all by the dramatic dip in jrue's assists. so-collins wants jrue to focus on finishing offense rrather than initiating it. on most possessions, jrue gets his touches as a finisher. so-how is jrue a point guard?at this point it seems a charade. i think its the right move, and its also the right move to prevent the mefia from doing a number on jrue's "failure as a pg" or however it could be portrayed)
So, Spence for POTG?I say no-while he was fantastic by his standards, he was a net negative except in the 4th.
The idea of Jrue as player of the game is rather odd to me. He made a couple big plays, the 3 pt play to answer the Hamilton 3 that looked the beginning of the end early in the 4th. He had that block in the last seconds, an exclamation point on an ET authored win. Don't get me wrong. I like Jrue, I think Jrue's game 2 was tremendously encouraging, his defense has been great(the whole team really did play great defense, led by Igoudala). I thought he didn't have a very good night last night, which is a credit to him since he still made significant contributions.
In the 2nd he was stuck on the bench
In the 3rd, it seemed like got a little overanxious with his chance to initiate offense with Turner on the bench. Couple ugly possessions where the ball didn't move once and his attempts to drive fell flat It almost seemed that he was trying to emulate Turner's methods of getting to the rim, but Turner has such a good commadn of all his tools and has palyed with them for a long time. Moreover, it's just a different and more difficult task-a rose/iverson sought to find their ways through available space
Igoudala's defense was incredible and the place was getting ready to absolutely burst
The only one of the three mentioned candidates whose absence costs the sixeers the game is turner-he was in the middle of everythung-getting to the rim when the team was strugglingto score in the 2nd 3rd, on the boards in the 4th, defense in the 4th passing in the 2nd half, and imposing his will down the stretch
I think if you did an exit poll at the arena it would be a turner landslide...
DC called ET's blocked/rebound/to the line sequence the best play of the season for the team.
Trivia question: this was only the 3rd time all year that the Sixers won a game in which they trailed at any time in the last 5 minutes of the game. Can you name the other two games, and who hit the go-ahead shots?
I'll say...
1. Lakers, Lou
2. @Pacers, Jrue
Those are the correct games. Versus the Lakers, Lou hit the tying and go-ahead baskets. Versus the Pacers, Lou hit the first go-ahead 3-pointer, then Jrue hit a second go-ahead basket.
FYI, the Sixers have lost 6 games this year where they led in the final 5 minutes (Denver, NJ, Clippers, @MIN, @HOU, OKC).
That sequence was like the anti-Charles Smith sequence back in the 90's. Love the fight in ET and the way that the torch finally feels like its being passed to Turner and Jrue.
Turner said the DC ran those last couple of plays for him down the stretch. Finally a player other than Lou on this team who wants the ball in crunch time and has the ability to deliver.
They key is that Lou got hurt and wasn't on the court. Otherwise I believe Lou would have gotten the ball, and the results would've been as they have been all year in close games, a loss.
noah doubtful for tomorrow
Sunday column: Sixers have chance to bury the depleted Bulls:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/sports_columnists/tom_moore/sixers-have-chance-to-bury-bulls/article_58162e40-52a5-5718-b49d-4054b58af886.html