Barring a miracle, the Sixers are going to be facing the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. Tonight's
109-93 loss to the Wizards eliminates any hopes the Sixers had of moving up to the 5th seed and it also means the Raptors would have to finish 1-2 with the Sixers winning both of their remaining games to get back to the sixth seed. Like I said, it's time to get ready for Detroit. (The Sixers still need 1 more win or an Atlanta loss to clinch no worse than #7, but I'm going to say that's in the bag).
For the first time since January, the Sixers went into the fourth quarter with a lead and wound up losing. Not only did they squander their 6-point bulge, they got blown off the court in the fourth. Gilbert Arenas took over and hit some ridiculous shots down the stretch. His outside shooting led to porous interior D which led to a complete meltdown. 31-9 was the final tally in the fourth.
From looking at the box score and my notes from the game, the only really glaring thing I notice is rebounding. The Wizards dominated the boards, and that really shouldn't happen. Maybe this is the price we pay for playing Thad at the 4, although he did have 7 boards in his 33 minutes.
On offense, Iguodala looked sharp, the running game looked good, Willie Green had a decent game, Thad kept hitting his jumpers and chipped in 15 points. The only real low point was Andre Miller's 7/22 performance, although he did add 10 assists.
Just an immensely disappointing loss at an extremely inopportune time. These two games could've, and should've gone the other way, but there's nothing to be done at that point. The final two games have to become about making sure Andre Iguodala is healthy for the first round, and getting the momentum going in the right direction. Those two goals may be at odds with each other, depending on how bad Iguodala's injury is (he seemed hesitant to go to the hoop tonight).
This is not how I was envisioning the end of the regular season.
Player of The Game: Andre Iguodala, 22 points, 6 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals
Team Record: 40-40
Playoff Race: Over, the 7 seed it is.
Man, this sucks. They could've played one-man show Cleveland, and instead they're facing Detroit.
I just hope they win those 2 remaining games to get to the playoffs with a winning mindset.
Two observations.
First, I hope Mo can right the ship on the way into the playoffs. Say what you will about momentum as a real/fake thing, but these last two losses have to shake the confidence of a team that had been playing some fantastic basketball over the past few months.
Second, I turned the game on when it was 91-91... so just in time for the Wizards 18-2 run to the finish the game. The D was disappointing down the stretch, but you almost have to think it was one of those one-off games that isn't likely to happen again: the Sixers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, while Arenas was chucking 35 footers that went down.
The Wizards did to the Sixers what the Sixers have done to everyone since February in the fourth quarter. It was very disappointing to see, and hopefully not a sign of what's to come in the playoffs.
They need to get back to being the aggressors. Two games in a row they've let teams dictate terms to them, that's not how they've been playing. It has to start with Cleveland tomorrow.
Nice call on the Wizards slipping to 7th, while Arenas "knocks off the rust." good luck against the Pistons.
I'm sure there are more outrageous predictions you could pull out of my archives (like the Bulls winning the East), this one I'm not really ashamed of. If the Sixers don't collapse in the 4th quarter last night it comes true. Good luck in the playoffs.
if we do end up playing detroit which looks probable, i really hope Mo uses the lineup of dalembert evans young iggy at the 2 and miller, the starting lineup when we were without willie. That lineup really causes matchup problems for detroit because whoever rip hamilton is guarding is going to have a field day on him. iguodala will overpower him and if they try to play him on thad he'll just post him up. plus evans can outrebound mcdyss and im pretty confident in dalembert's ability to cover rasheed and dre miller can hold his own against billups. Hopefully they'll get these last 2 and get there groove back but the best sign of the past two games is that thad has looked better then ever with that jump shot.
Just an observation about your post, what happens if Sheed starts taking 3's/long shots? You know he will, and that could be a problem, IMO. Dalmebert can cover him, but if he leaves the paint, then that makes the team seriously lacking a shot blocker inside.
I hope that if this happens, everyone step up defensively and help each other.
I can live with Dalembert following Sheed out to the perimeter. I think the rest of the team is able to man up on their guys. On offense, Iguodala at the 2 is a HUGE advantage in the half court, and I think Detroit would be forced to limit Rip Hamilton's minutes if Mo actually takes advantage. Of course, if Detroit doubles, someone is going to have to knock down an open jumper. My money is on Thad at this point.
Just put Thad on Sheed outside the paint. I think a 3-2 style zone would work best against Detroit.
I don't like the zone against a team with 4 guys who can knock down threes on the court. Especially with Reggie and Sammy on the floor. They aren't exactly good at closing out on shooters when the ball swings from side to side. I say you pressure the ball, make detroit get into their half court with 10-15 seconds left on the clock and play tight man to man.