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Box Score

To no one's surprise, the Sixers lost again. The odds were stacked against them, playing the mighty Celtics on their home floor, and missing three of their best players: Lou Williams, Mo Speights and Elton Brand. The Sixers could've easily mailed this game in, especially down 10 points with 5 minutes to go, but they didn't, and I respect that. They battled for 48 minutes and only lost by three points. But don't confuse "battling" with playing well, because they didn't play well. Their defense was shredded once again, and it took insane performances from Bill Green and Jason Kapono to keep them in the ball-game. 

I know I'm going to hear, "No way dude, the Sixers blew that game!" Well, if you believed the outer-worldly performances from Bill Green and Jason Kapono would last for four quarters, then yeah, I guess they blew the game. And if you believed the Celtics were never going to turn it up a notch, then yeah, the Sixers blew the game. The bottom line is, the Sixers were shooting 10 times better than usual, and the Celtics were in third or fourth gear until the final quarter. There's no way the Sixers "gave the game away" because it took every ounce of their bodies just to keep the game close for three quarters. 

I'm not sure what to say about the defense, besides "What defense?" The Celtics had a ton of open shots, just like every other team who plays the Sixers. The constant switching and over-helping seems to be the root of their problems, and that falls mostly on the head coach. 

Andre Iguodala did not take a jumper until the second quarter. He was 4-6 from the field. I was very pleased. However; his next 12 shots were all jumpers -- most of them heavily contested and early in the shot clock. He made four of them. I hate watching Andre Iguodala take bad jumper after bad jumper. He's not Kobe Bryant. In his defense, no one else was doing anything offensively, but when Lou, Brand and Speights return I want Andre to take a lot less jumpers. Drive, kick, dunk... no more jumpers unless they're wide open!

Jrue was very up and down, as expected. He played very rookie-ish, but I'm completely fine with that. God bless Eddie Jordan for leaving him in. Sure, he had no other options, but that hasn't stopped him before.  

Tonight was a tough loss, but they were playing the Celtics, and missing three key players, so don't get too down on the team. Plus, Jrue played 34 minutes. That alone warrants a celebration.

That's all I got for tonight. Have a good Thanksgiving, and Go Cowboys!