The Sixers hopped on a plane to head straight into a blizzard in Cleveland after last night's home loss to the Kings. What they found when they landed was a complacent Cleveland team who thought they could sleep walk to a win against the Sixers. 48 minutes later, the Sixers have righted the ship with a
92-86 road win.
The Sixers got it done by running at every opportunity, playing tough, tough interior defense (the Cavs had 4 points in the paint the entire second half) and an amazing defensive effort on LeBron James. LeBron finished with 21 points, but went most of the second half without even getting a shot off.
Dalembert seemed to take last night's loss harder than anyone, and he played tonight with a chip on his shoulder. His monster final line, 16 points, 19 rebounds (7 offensive), and 3 blocks, was definitely indicative of his play. He was by far the best big on the floor, possibly the best player on the floor for long stretches.
Just in case you missed it, Thad Young was on the bad end of some tough defensive match ups tonight. When Iguodala went to the bench at the end of the second with three fouls, Thad came in and locked down LeBron mano a mano for the rest of the quarter. His length and quick feet gave LeBron fits. In the second half, Thad was on Anderson Varejao, a spaz/hustle player who is almost impossible to keep off the boards. On one occasion, a shot went up and Young immediately found Anderson and sealed him off the hoop. He didn't make the typical mistake of leaving a hustler too early to go for the ball, instead he kept his base solid and kept Varejao away from the glass. The result: a loose-ball foul on Varejao for trying to go over Thad's back. Little things like that, the ability to man-up on one of the best offensive perimeter players in the league AND the ability to give away size to a spaz rebounder and use technique to keep him off the boards are just two reasons why I think Thad has a bright future in this league.
The Sixers have 3 days off before heading to Indy to face an old friend, Jim O'Brien and his over-achieving Pacers (12-12). Check out Arin It Out for our network's Pacers' coverage.
Player of The Game: Samuel Dalembert
Team Record: 10-14
Keep It Up: If the season ended today, the Sixers would be the #8 seed in the East. That's especially notable because they started the season with one of the hardest schedules in the conference.
Hey Brian,
Big game tonight. I am leaning toward saying Sam's "Turned The Corner," but I am afraid I might jinx it. He has played solid all year, but has taken it to another level lately. It is a Great Thing.
I loved Thad's effort tonight. His great feel and high IQ play combined with his athleticism and work ethic has me believing the wing spots for the Sixers will be set for the next decade once Thad takes his proper spot as the starting SF.
I also like DreDala fighting through some bad calls to give a quality effort in the end game.
All in all, A quality win. If this were the BCS, we would jump up a few spots.
Sean,
This team has the makings of a top defensive team with Iguodala, Young and Dalembert all on the floor at the same time. I really think Thad will be able to guard any position but the 5, just like Iguodala. Having two lock-down guys on the outside plus Big Sam erasing mistakes at the hoop is quite a combination. It makes me wonder what Larry Brown could do if he was coaching this team.
I'm loving what I'm seeing out of them, they just need to stop the let-down games, like Sactown, from happening too regularly.
Brian,
I can see that future too. The beautiful thing is that Iguodala can guard 1-4, Thad can guard 2-4, and Sam can guard 4-5. If Smith develops, he can guard 4-5, and some threes on a quick switch. But that team would be long, rangy, athletic and disruptive. Larry Brown as a defensive coordinator would be in heaven devising tactics.
The Sac game was a combination letdown plus Mo got beat by Theus. Theus went full motion and screen roll for the 2nd half and Mo responded by going small, which only exaggerated the problem. Speaking of Smith, I think if he would've switched Smith with Evans instead of Korver, they might have pulled that win off.
Brian, Sean, nice reading your impressions
what's your thought about the goaltending that put us up 5 with 1 minute left at 89-84?
I just finished writing that it was a questionable call, I had the impression that Iggy was fouled but that the block was 100% clean
Ricky,
I thought that goaltend was a borderline call. It hadn't hit the backboard yet, but it might've been on its way down. I was more shocked that a borderline call actually went the Sixers way than anything else.
thanks. So it was probably me