without raising my blood pressure to dangerous levels. Toronto never threatened after the Sixers punished them in the second quarter. They did cut the lead to nine in the fourth, but the offensive star of the game, Thad Young, put them back in line quickly. After the jump we'll check out Coach DiLeo's rotations, in detail, and talk about why this wasn't a 40-point win (which it really should've been).
The obvious choice for player of the game would be Thad Young, who scored a career-high 29 points and really made it look easy. He hit shots from all over the floor, finished in traffic and basically ran the Raptors into submission. He'd be the obvious choice, but you're going to have to wait a couple of minutes to see if I chose him.
First, let's talk about why the game was as close as it was. It's really simple, after the half, the Sixers stopped playing defense. After holding Toronto to 39 points in the entire first half, they allowed the Raptors to score 35 in the third quarter alone. Then Toronto tacked on another 32 in the final quarter. The game got very ragged in the fourth, and I think the lack of defense was contagious, but I still would've liked to have seen a complete defensive effort. The only reason their defense didn't come back to bite them is Toronto was just as bad on that end of the floor.
Let's dive right into the rotations now, then circle back to a couple of other notable performances:
Two things of note. First, check out what happened when Lou was running the show in the second quarter. I have to say, this was the best game I've seen from him this season. He only took two jumpers, by my count, he was making smart decisions with the ball, and instead of dribbling on the perimeter with no purpose, he was taking the ball to the rack. A couple of times, he used the drive to set up his teammates, which is something we've rarely seen this season. His energy off the bench was probably the main reason the Sixers took off in the second, so credit where credit is due.
The second thing I noticed was the distribution of Speights' minutes. Bryon asked in the comments why Speights never gets touches on the low blocks, I think one of the reasons is that Reggie Evans consistantly clogs the lane and the bulk of Speights' minutes came with Evans on the floor as well.
Honestly, I don't see any reason why Evans should ever play more minutes than Speights in a game, and he did tonight. Speights poured in 13 in his 16 minutes of action tonight.
If you missed the game, Andre Iguodala was limited to 36 minutes of action because he left the game in the second quarter with mild back spasms. He returned and played the bulk of the second half, so let's hope it isn't too serioius.
And finally, onto the player of the game. In my pregame, the one key I laid out was for Sam Dalembert to be able to, and allowed to, handle Chris Bosh on his own. On the first play of the game, Sammy was whistled for a touch foul on Bosh. On the second play, he stoned Bosh. On the third, he blocked Bosh's shot. That set the tone for the night, and Sammy continued to shut Bosh down the entire night. Actually, Sammy out-scored Bosh 19-17 and beat him on the boards 13-4. Most importantly, the Sixers never had to double Bosh, not once that I saw all night long. It was a dominant 33 minutes for the big Haitian, reminiscent of his play down the stretch last season. If this Sam shows up the rest of the way, things are going to start clicking in a big way for the Sixers.
Player of The Game: Sammy
Team Record: 31-31
Up Next: Vs. Chicago at the Spectrum on Friday night.
Detroit fell to the Knicks in overtime, leaving the Sixers only a half game out of the sixth seed. Atlanta and Miami both won, however. If you're worried about the Sixers' downward mobility in the standings, Chicago lost to Orlando and the Nets are leading the Warriors in the second quarter.
I had Sam as the player of the game, too. But you misled me in the comments that I thought you were going to pick Thad. Sam played with a purpose tonight and as you already said, was reminiscent of the stretch last year. We are such a different team when he brings it like he did tonight.
The team would seem to be more productive by feeding Speights down low (within 8-10 feet) for an inside-out game. It would at least cause the defense to sag or cheat enough to open up a perimeter shot or driving lane for our many slashers. For his limited minutes I would feed him often to see what kind of looks it presented. But him and Lou do pretty well with the high ball screen also, just wonder what that element would add if attempted.
I was at the game. While I definitely agree Sammy was the player of the game, I believe Lou and Reggie caused the tide to change by playing very D in the 2nd quarter. They also made the game faster. And NJ just lost to the Warriors!
Lou was torturing their backup PG in the second.
Sam had a monster game and his motivation is not totally surprising considering that mess with Team Canada last summer (you guys know Sam's a Canuck now, right?). He was out to prove something.
Bosh really dislikes playing as or against a centre, he prefers being the power forward. The Raptor's centre is a bit of a creampuff though, so it's a waste to put Sammy on him, really. Sam was the man tonight, tho Thad and the Philly bench was a beastly, too. Sam shut down their best player and provided great scoring himself. Couldn't ask for more.
Detroit ran out of gas. I agree that Miami (DWade) is on serious mission tho the Celts are kinda cruisin til the whole gang is back hale for the playoffs.
Beat Chicago on Friday and then it's just a matter of how high Philly can climb (I still say 7th).
p.s. just for giggles, would you trade Sam for Bargs and Parker? That's a dip in defense, but if you replace Green with Parker and add a 3pt shooter?....naaah, nevermind.
Bargnani would drive me absolutely nuts. I don't think you can play him at the five and hope to compete.
FYI: Only single tickets at $90 and $150 are available for Friday's Spectrum finale vs. the Bulls.
A bunch of former Sixers (Julius Erving, Bobby Jones, Moses Malone, Wali Jones) are expected to attend, but Mo Cheeks and Billy Cunningham are not.
It's too bad Mo won't be there.
I'm glad there don't seem to be too many tickets left, it'd be sad to play to a half-empty arena on a night like that.
"Honestly, I don't see any reason why Evans should ever play more minutes than Speights in a game, and he did tonight. Speights poured in 13 in his 16 minutes of action tonight."
Foul trouble would be one.
Fair enough.
Also, if the Sixers are ahead, DiLeo may opt for more defense (Evans) than offense (Speights).\
In another matter, the Sixers don't have interest in former Net pick Marcus Williams, according to Ed Stefanski.
I'm not sure there's any way to quantify this, but I think Evans' defense isn't really conducive to holding a lead. He's very good at doubling at the top of the floor, and increasing the pace of the game by pressuring the ball, but using him in that role is essentially taking a gamble that the opposing team won't be able to punish the Sixers for it. The lane is wide-open, usually, and the rest of the team is constantly scrambling to make up for the double. It also hurts the team on the glass.
When you're down by 10 points, and you need something to shift momentum, it's probably worth the risk. When you're up by 10 with 6 minutes to go in the fourth, I think you're better off playing straight defense and making them earn every hoop.
One thing that's frequently overlooked is that the team, as a whole, is actually a worse defensive rebounding team with Evans on the floor. Mainly because he's rarely in the lane when the shot goes up.
To me, Evans should really only be used when the team desperately needs to change the game. He gets offensive boards, he's physical, and he can disrupt the other team's offense, but playing him is a very big risk.
Brian,
I have for months tried to figure out why I go up and down on Reggie. You hit the nail on the head. Thank you, perfect point and correct. Now I can just enjoy watching Reggie when he should be in there and not go crazy think why he is in when we are up. Great point, I wish it would get back to the sixers staff.
Um
Defensive rebounding is part of defense
If Reggie Evans is in for defense, his impact on defensive rebounding is TRULY an issue
Zero offense and negative impact on defensive rebounding
How is he an asset on the floor at any time - the sixers most likely will be outscored when reggie is on the floor, and the opposing team will have more offensive opportunities off misses than if he is off the floor.
So I tend to think reggies 'defensive help' is a myth.
Offense matters at all points of the game - so if speights and evans are equally bad on their defensive impact - put in the guy more likely to at least produce some offense.
Sat Thad last night over Aldridge Rashard Lewis and McDyess - who knew Lewis would crap the bad :)
One thing that's frequently overlooked is that the team, as a whole, is actually a worse defensive rebounding team with Evans on the floor. Mainly because he's rarely in the lane when the shot goes up.
Ahem...
I didn't say you overlooked it :)
I know - it's just I've been fighting the 'reggie evans' battle for over a year now :)
Well, I think you're too far overboard in the other direction. He has a role, and he can be very effective in that role. It's just a much smaller role than the one he plays.
The primary argument from reggie evans supporters is that he helps rebounding - my counter argument has always been he only helps offensive rebounding and yet i was still roundly dismissed by many.
Plus - I still think his offensive rebounding impact is minimized by being a crap offensive player and crap free throw shooter :)
He's a minor player and he really shouldn't get into games before speights
Well, you'll be happy to learn that Evans got more touches than Speights in the post last night :)
Gotta agree with you fully, John. The difference between Evans and Speights defensively does not make up for the offensive difference. The net effect is plus Speights by a mile. Evans should consistently be inserted if/when Speights gets into serious foul trouble or -- if you really insist -- in a defense-for-offense per possession swap in the waning seconds of a close game. Sez here anyway.
Iguodala (lower back strain) and Miller (sore calf) sat out Thursday's practice at the Spectrum, but are expected to play Friday vs. the Bulls.
So the calf is more of an issue w/ Miller than the shin? Hopefully they'll both be at full speed for tomorrow night.
I believe so, Brian. Miller seemed to pull up on the break and grimace in the fourth quarter. I waited for him to come limping into the locker room after getting treatment well after the game, but he said he didn't tweak it there and was OK.
Thought it was encouraging how others picked up the slack with Iguodala and Miller not 100 percent.