Sixers Hang With Celts, But Lose

Hey, at least they didn't get held to 59 points. That's a positive, right?

I know, I know. This post is about 24 hours late, cut me some slack. Anyway, the Sixers played probably their best offensive game of the year against the Celtics, and it just wasn't enough. The Celts came away with a 113-103 win at Philly, and oddly enough, it wasn't really the big three that did the Sixers in, it was big threes. Eddie House and James Posey combined to go 7/13 from downtown.

There's nothing to complain about on the offensive side of the ball, the Sixer shot 55.7% from the field, the Andres combined to go 20/33 from the field for 50 points combined. Miller was like a man possessed with the basketball, forcing Doc Rivers to sit Rajon Rondo for most of the second half. Miller was abusing him. I would've liked to see the Sixers take advantage of the Celts' weakness at PG a little more, but their press wasn't really effective.

Mo Cheeks continues to run with an 8-man rotation, and a thin 8 at that. Jason Smith only saw 11 minutes of action. While I'm glad Rodney Carney and Kevin Ollie are planted on the bench, I think Mo should be able to find some minutes for Thad Young. Night in and night out, Willie Green goes through long stretches where he does nothing but hurt the team. Mo needs to cut down Green's minutes by about 10, and give those minutes directly to Thad. I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this issue, but you can only stick with an 8-man rotation for so long. When you're pressing for large portions of the game, it makes the heavy minutes much more intense on the starters.

Thursday was a day of rest, the Knicks come into town Friday night for the front end of a home-and-home, back-to-back extravaganza with the 'Bockers. SML is probably pumped. The Knicks are pretty much on the same level as the Red Sox for me. Luckily, I've never had to watch them win a championship, and that record is 100% secure as long as they stick with Isiah as their GM/coach.

The Sixers should sweep these two games, no question about it. Their Achilles heel has been the three-pointer all year long. The Knicks' two biggest gunners, Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford average a combined 8.5 attempts per game, and shoot 25% and 29%, respectively. The Sixers will pressure the ball coming up the floor, collapse down on Randolph and Curry, force turnovers and run the pants of the Knicks. The following night, we get watch Curry and Randolph waddle up and down the court on short rest. Two wins, nothing less.

Player of The Game: Andre Miller, 26 points, 12 assists, 5 boards
Team Record: 5-13