In yet another "this is what good teams do" type of game, the Sixers absolutely manhandled the Nets at the Wells Fargo Center last night. Right from the opening tip, it was clear which of these teams would eventually be heading to the playoffs. At the final buzzer, it was official.
Charts
Thoughts
In his pregame interview, Avery Johnson said Thaddeus Young was the difference-maker for the Sixers. He said Thad was their team's MVP and he talked about the difficulty teams have matching up with him at the four. His solution to that problem was to lean heavily on his own lanky 3/4 tweener, Brandon Wright. It didn't work. Wright had a nice game for the Nets, but he didn't slow Thad down a bit. Thad's your player of the game, he finished with 22 points on 9/12 from the floor with 5 boards and 3 steals in only 24 minutes of action.
Thad wasn't the only candidate for POTG. Brand had a really strong game, scoring 21 and getting to the line 8 times. Igoudala was his usual self, plus he scored 12 points in the opening minutes of the game to push the Sixers lead into double digits where it would remain for most of the night. Jrue was on fire for a stretch, scored 17 efficient points, handed out 7 dimes and grabbed 6 boards while turning the ball over only once. Jrue didn't get the POTG simply because he didn't get to the line. That's going to be the key for him. I thought Lou also played a solid game, and was distributing more than he usually does.
There was no champagne after the game and everyone made it very clear in their post-game interviews that this is an accomplishment, but far from the goal. There's plenty of work left to be done.
Here are a couple of videos I shot before and after the game. I apologize for the poor camera work
Collins immediately after the game
Collins on Turner's struggles prior to the game
Player of The Game: Thad Team Record: 40-36 Up Next: @ Milwaukee, tonight. Game capsule
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Thoughts
The Sixers play at 8:30 tonight. Preview/Game Thread will be up around 6pm with a quick video.
Wow, it seems like Thad has gotten quite a few of the POTGs recently, has he taken over the POTG leaderboard?
Thanks Brian for the post, really cool you managed to get the two video clips, the latter asking the really pertinent question in my mind.
Jrue is leading w/ 18, followed by Brand (14), Iguodala (13) and Thad (12).
but I actually take players' facial expressions pretty seriously
Thank god Coach Collins isn't as much as a fool.