Points in the open court have been a big part of the Sixers’ recent success, and was again tonight. The Sixers notched 20 fast break points against the Bucks to go along with their 60 points in the paint. When the Sixers score at least 100 points, they are 14-7 on the season after Wednesday night.

Spencer Hawes continued to impress the way he has of late, scoring 15 points while grabbing 17 rebounds. That is Spencer’s fifth double-double in his last seven games. Since being held scoreless on March 2nd against the Golden State Warriors, Hawes has averaged 14.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per outing.

Other contributors include Damien Wilkins, who added 18 points, and Evan Turner, who had an impressive stat line of 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists on 6-of-11 from the field. Even more impressive is that the Sixers were +22 when Turner was on the floor in the win.

Defensively, Milwaukee was held to 41.6% shooting and just 92 points. Brandon Jennings was held to zero points for the first time in his career, and did not play after the 9:37 mark in the third quarter. The Bucks were -25 against the Sixers when their best player was on the court at the Wells Fargo Center.

Most impressively, the Sixers controlled the boards against the Bucks, winning that battle 48-44. Also, they totaled 28 assists while only allowing Milwaukee to record 18.  With three home games and eight road games remaining, the Sixers will head into Cleveland to face Kyrie Irving and the Cavaliers on Friday night.

To everyone’s surprise, Shaq took Damian Lillard with the first overall pick. Not that Lillard is undeserving, but Kyrie Irving is an All-Star. Regardless, Kenny Smith would take advantage of his luck and pick up the second-year phenomenon. Right? Wrong. With the second pick, Kenny Smith took the first overall pick in last year’s draft, Anthony Davis. Davis is an extraordinary talent as well, but over Kyrie Irving? The slip then finally ended, as Shaq drafted Irving to round out his dynamic back court duo.

The rest of Team Shaq consists of Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes, Houston’s Chandler Parsons, Cleveland’s Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller, and Charlotte’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kemba Walker.

After taking Anthony Davis with his first pick, Kenny Smith built a team that consists of Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio, Denver’s Kenneth Faried, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson, Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic, Detroit’s Brandon Knight, Sacramento’s Isaiah Thomas, and Minnesota’s Alexey Shved.

My pick for MVP is Kyrie Irving. The second-year man out of Duke is averaging 23.9 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.7 assists per game this season. He’s shooting an outstanding 42.7% on three-point attempts, and is also racking up an impressive number of steals, 1.7 per game to be exact. Irving will be the best player on the court when the Rising Stars take the court, and I fully expect for him personally to put on a show.

Former-Sixer Nikola Vucevic will also try to establish himself as a future-star. Vucevic has flown somewhat under the radar due to Orlando’s struggles this season. However, the second-year center out of  USC has averaged a double-double this season. The seven-footer has improved in every area of the game since being dealt to the Magic in the Dwight Howard/Andrew Bynum blockbuster trade this offseason.

TNT will have the coverage on Friday at 9:00 P.M.