 Who's Going To Lead? The Vets. I'm not going to spend a ton of time talking about the first quarter when the Sixers fell behind 38-13. The reasons for the atrocious start were very simple. They turned the ball over way too much, they settled for nothing but jump shots, and they were sluggish on defense. The last point is the most important to note. They came out flat and the Pacers just ran all over them for 12 minutes. It was ugly. It was inexcusable. The only positive that I saw in the first quarter was a quick hook by Mo. With 6:20 left in the quarter, Sammy grabbed the ball after a made shot and lazily started to throw the ball in without looking where he was throwing it. One Pacer stayed back to apply modest pressure. He was standing between Sammy and Andre Miller. Sammy realized it too late, didn't throw the ball in, but stepped onto the court, committing a turnover. Mo yanked Sammy on the spot in favor of Willie Green. He then spent the rest of the quarter searching for a lineup that could stem the tide. Nothing worked in the first quarter, but Mo learned his lessons quickly. We saw a healthy dose of Royal Ivey and Reggie Evans, which the absolute right move to make. We didn't see much of Lou Williams, his minutes went to Willie Green again. Another great move. Sammy barely sniffed the floor, playing only 12 minutes the entire game, even though he avoided foul trouble. This game was a defining moment for Mo, as far as I'm concerned. With a huge hole to dig out of, he called on Evans and Ivey for their defense. Ivey and Evans combined for only 4 points in 24 minutes of work, but they made plays that changed the tide of the game. Two come immediately to mind: Early in the second, with the Sixer behind by over 20 points, there was a loose ball under the Pacers' basket. Four Pacers and Royal Ivey were in there under the hoop. Ivey was the first on the floor, came out with the ball and called a timeout before he could be tied up. Hustle like that rubs off, especially on a young team. Reggie had a hustle play as well, or more accurately, a play caused by his incessant hustle and physical play. With 7:05 left in the second, Iguodala drove the lane and missed a layup. Reggie muscled his way in for the offensive rebound, pushing Nesterovic out of the way. He went right back up with it and Nesterovic basically pounded him right on top of the head on his way up. Rasho was called for a flagrant foul. He made one of two free throws, then on the extra possession earned, Thad followed up another miss with a dunk off the rebound. Like I said, hustle is contagious. Speaking of Thad. In the second quarter, the Sixers shaved 17 points off their deficit. In that quarter, Thad was 6/8 for 12 points. Thad would finish the game with 25 points on 11/18 from the floor, with 10 boards (5 offensive). He was easily the best Sixer on the floor tonight, something I think we're going to be saying quite a bit this season and for about a decade to come. After the jump, we'll take an extra-close look at the final quarter of this game when the Sixers not only climbed the mountain, but stayed atop it.
To tell the story of the fourth quarter, we have to start a little earlier. With 1:50 left in the third, Elton Brand was 1/11 from the floor with 8 points and 9 rebounds. About a minute earlier, Brand had been whistled for a foul on what looked like a clean block. His argument was the most demonstrative I've seen him so far in a Sixers' uniform. I like Elton when he's angry. With 1:50 left, Jarrett Jack blew by his defender and went up for an easy layup. Brand came from out of nowhere and blocked the shot off the backboard. He grabbed the rebound, spun and dribbled up the court all the way to the foul line where he pulled up and drained a 15-footer. That cut the lead to 5, the closest the Sixers had been since about 30 seconds into the game.
The beginning of the fourth is what really had me worried. Mo was resting the starters, Lou, Willie and Ivey were in the backcourt. I wasn't sure where the offense was going to come from. The Pacers came out and immediately pushed their lead back up to 11. I honestly believed the game was over. The run had fallen short. Then, in the span of 2:30, Willie poured in 7 points and assisted on a three-point play for Thad. Those 10 points kept the Sixers afloat while the starters got some rest. My favorite play of the stretch came when Willie got the ball on the wing and the Sixers all cleared out for him. Willie backed T.J. Ford all the way to the basket, basically shed him to the floor, and converted an easy uncontested layup. It was pure abuse. With 6:25 to go, and the Sixers trailing 88-81, I picked up my pen. This was what we've been waiting for. The game is on the line, who is going to step up? Will anyone step up? Here are the Sixers' offensive possessions for the rest of the game:
I don't know how many games this team can possibly win when Iguodala and Brand combine to go 6/29 from the floor. I don't know if they can expect to win any games with only 10 assists. This will probably go down as one of the ugliest wins in the history of the franchise, but it was also one of the most satisfying. Iguodala and Brand couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the floor for most of the night, but that didn't stop them from hustling, it didn't stop them from working. Brand finished with 15 boards, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 7 free throw attempts. Iguodala had 10 boards, 3 blocks and 8 trips to the line. I'm hoping that we'll look back on this game much like a similar game from last season, against Portland. The Sixers came back from down 25 in that game and it seemed to show this young team that no deficit was too big to overcome if you played D. Player of The Game: Thad Team Record: 4-5 Next Game: Tomorrow night, at home, against the OKC Thunder. Time to get back to .500. Also, the team +/- spreadsheet has been updated, check it out. 
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This team was down 22-2! Incredible. Eerily similar to portland game last year. The sixers fall into bad habits when they settle for too many jump shots. When they don't make them it puts stress on their transition D (which hasn't been very good to start the season). They need to stay aggressive on the boards and on defense and not settle on offense.
Whenever they get in a rut like they did in the first they should be calling plays for Thad. I realize he's only 20, but he might just have the highest basketball IQ on the team, and I also think he's the least-likely guy to take a bad shot. He always does the right thing, according to what his defender is doing, give him too much room, he'll stick the jumper, press him, he'll drive right by you.
He also seems to know when the team needs him to put a bunch of points on the board, and he rises to the occasion. I can't say enough about this kid.
Nice comeback win. The best thing over the last 2 games that I can see is when it comes to crunch time...Iguodola--despite being the 80 million dollar man--steps back and lets others take the shots. I dont think Iggy is a crunch time player YET. Willie Green has been the man the last couple games...without him the sixers lose both of them. Sure he doesnt play defense but he is not afraid to take a big shot...and he makes a lot of em too. Interesting mix this sixer team has....
Willie was huge in the 4th and you're right, he's not afraid to take the big shot. Being afraid to shoot was never Willie's problem. He's been hot and he's also been taking good shots over the past two games. Let's hope he keeps it up. He's the only guy to hit a three for the team last night, and he's also 5 for his last 6 from distance.
Due to League Pass always giving us the opposing teams' announcers (why is this??), this was not really touched upon and no replay. But in, I think, the 4th quarter did anyone take note of that sickly athletic move that Thad had on the baseline under the basket where he kind of scrambled for it and took the ball from the Pacer and went behind the back and then came out with the left handed scoop from under the rim for the finish. Pretty nasty move!
Yeah, he ripped the ball out of Granger's hands and put it in before he even knew what happened. Thad and Iguodala were both super aggressive on the boards. Something or someone lit a fire under them after the first and they were all over the glass the rest of the game.
Would love to see a Youtube of that. It happened so quick like you said Thad probably didn't even know what happened.
We need a nickname for Thad. It's worth noting that the last four letters of his name are Latin for God.
Someone tried to go with "Young Vet" last year, but I don't like it. Needs to have a better ring to it, oh, and it also needs to say he's going to be an all star (not this year, but it's coming).