Celtics, Clippers Recaps
By Brian G.
Alright, here we go! The Sixers went on the road to good ole “Bean Town,” on Friday to meet up with division foe Boston Celtics. Meet they did and greet did the Sixers. Greeting the Celtics with a 98-97 hard fought victory. Elton Brand showed up off the bench and scored 23 big points and grabbed eight solid rebounds. Marreese Speights came back from his injury and posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The deciding factor in the big win on the road this time was indeed Elton Brand being the man. His tip-in with 7.7 seconds remaining. Thanks for answering the call of Sixers fans, Elton, as you rose to the occasion and showed that you can still dominate within your range.
The Sixers played the game without Allen Iverson who is suffering from fluid filled in his knee. During the week he has had the son of a gun drained twice, hence earning the new nickname “Draino,” from myself. When you think about it, it’s not a bad name because Sixers fans can’t wait till he gets back to his old ways and DRAINING shots night in and night out. Enough said. So with the win against Boston, the Sixers now have a record of 7-20. Why 20 in the loss column? Well.. on Saturday the beloved Sixers riding the wave of a nice road win were unable to beat the Clippers on their home turf.
Andre Iguodala had a potential game winning jumper in regulation waved off by replay as it showed a very close, bang, bang sort of play if you will. In the end, the bucket was waived and left the Sixers heading to over time to try and seal the deal. Well that didn’t work out too well. Iguodala led the Sixers with a total of 20 points in 50 plus minutes while the Sixers were again without Iverson and are still awaiting the return of Louis Williams. Thaddeus Young, who is quietly producing like the calm before the storm for the Sixers ended his evening with 19 points and eight rebounds. The real gem of gems in this one was the production of Speights in his second game back. He went off for 28 points and really rebounded well on the offensive glass as he ripped down seven. He had a total of nine all together. So where do we go wrong?
Let’s see how it all shapes up. The Clippers out rebounded the Sixers by a count of 47-40. Free-throw shooting has not been a stat to shake a stick at, shooting 18-for-24. Yes that’s not too bad, but when the opponents miss only three at 14-for-17, those are points missed. The three point shooting at Boston and against the Clippers was not good at all. In this loss against the Clips, an astounding 3-for-14 performance was put up. Pardon the sarcasm, but I think there needs to be some extra jumpers being shot in practice to help establish some type of rhythm. Huh? Lou Williams did return for this match up, but the effects of being off were evident. Only netting six points, missing all of his three point attempts and having two rebounds in 23 minutes of action are sub par for the elusive guard.
The bottom line friends and fans, lets get these injury problems solved. Where’s Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman to perform her magic and get these guys healthy. Shuffling the lineup time and time again is not helping establish chemistry. It shows. So let’s rock and roll and get some decent practice time in and hit the floor and make a push to win some games. Up next, the Sixers are on the road tonight against the Washington Wizards. The key to the game, score more than the other team. Haha! I know a bit corny, but when you think about it, do it! Make more free throws and improve the outside shooting or the beloved team from Philly will have their hands full again. Stopping Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler can be a tough task. Can we rise up? Elton and Marreese, we are counting on the rebounding and scoring efforts to be there. Andre, Lou, Thad and even Kapono, lets get the outside shooting under control. In the end, win, that’s it. That’s all we ask and that’s something to get used to.
Peace From The 570!