While fans of playoff teams are eying first round matchups and suiting up for the playoff run, we're planning golfing trips and arranging to pick our kids up from elementary school.  Although I don't have kids or any golfing excursions in the foreseeable future, you get the point -- the offseason is almost here and it's *almost* about damn time.  With tonight's loss, and the Knicks victory against the Wizards, we're basically cemented into the 7 spot.  We'll know for sure in the next two days.  Houston just put Sacramento out of reach, so pray for a bunch of help from the ball-picker.

Big games out of Jason Kapono and Jodie Meeks kept this game close.  Big games out of Jason Kapono and Jodie Meeks kept this game close.  I said that twice so you could do a double-take but continue reading.  I'm all about being considerate.  As Jordan tweeted (still my least favorite word, followed closely by "vestibule"), the Princeton Offense apparently takes 78 games to learn, which I can only assume is correct since he runs the blog, is a year older than me, and lives in Las Vegas, a town known for its booksmartiness and sobriety.  Jordan Sams and Eddie Jordan need a chalk session and everything would get straightened out in a jiffy.

Dwyane Wade did what he did at the end of the game to salvage a loss for the Sixers and there's not much else I can say about the game other than we hit more shots than normal and still didn't play any defense.  Sounds like an Eddie coached team if I've ever heard of one, and I have.

Anyway, this is my last recap of the season, and as you've clearly noticed if you have read any of my posts (thanks Tanner), I haven't exactly brought the house down with my stat-wrangling and spreadsheets with fancy equations.  While I like referring to advanced stats in baseball, our sport is so far behind that I don't think most of the information is worth paying much attention to.  Either that, or I'm far too lazy/busy/lazy/a college student/metrosexual to actually dig deep for information. I think we've got a great balance of writers here at Liberty Ballers. Jordan puts a ton of work in to this site that goes mostly unnoticed, Derek's a phenomenal addition that makes us appear more smarter (see what I did there?), Tanner appeals to avid rap music fans that stumble onto this site accidentally, and I don't know exactly what I bring but I think it's different and hope somebody out there appreciates it.  It's been cool writing recaps for you guys even though most of the time they weren't actually recaps, and hope to break out a bunch of new features during the offseason to make this site more fun, hip, cool, and other words that generally mean the same thing.  Podcasts, Vlogs, and *Live Blogging of the NBA Draft by Mike and Tanner at MSG on June 24th* (winkity wink Jordan) could be in the site's future and it's definitely something to think about. 

Wednesday is the last game of Eddie Jordan in Philadelphia and the last game of this wash of a season.  Jordan's got the Thread n' Cap so treat him well and let's ride this baby off into the sunset.  I'll see you next year, recap friends.

We won.  Discuss what ways you plan on injuring yourself after this mortifying victory while I type up sum'in clevah for the recap.

108-97 and back to 20 games under .500

Updated.

Well, that's disheartening.  I'm currently watching Postgame Live with a white guy that isn't Marshall Harris and Donyell Marshall, who always sounds like he's drunk.  Eddie just said he thought there may have been a "magic touch" tonight. Yeah, I'm pretty sure beating the Nets is magical.  He also just said "package" about 15 times in one sentence.  Unless he's R. Kelly, I don't think that's ok. 

I'm gonna hit you up with some bullet points because I haven't done it in a while and Donyell's voice is putting me to sleep and/or wishing I was tippin back some.

• If you didn't watch tonight's game, congratulations.  Watch an episode of Supernanny and it will evoke the same general reaction out of you.  Each possession for both teams
  
• Check out the Louis Williams interview (can't find a link), he sounds so frustrated and fed up with the season.  After he was told he'd be coming off the bench tonight, he complained about lack of consistency and how the year hasn't gone well.  That's news to us on the site, I've been pleasantly surprised with consistency and the team's play.  He ended up with an Eddie House 11 points, providing energy and not much else to a team that doesn't need him. Mmkay.
  
• Jrue Holiday is good at basketball.  Similar to the stats from the Knicks game, however, I'm not gonna get on my knees for anybody for putting up some decent numbers against the Nets. The Nets. But I can pat Jrue on the head for playing well and there's nothing you can do about it.  19-7-7 on 8 of 11 shooting and just one turnover.  Keyon Dooling and Courtney Lee couldn't stay with him, and didn't particularly try.  The media asked everybody how impressed they were with Jrue, and got Domonic Brown-like reactions from them, so his likability is another piece of good news to go with his lovely rookie year.  On the offensive end, he's really working on his spin move to get by guys in game action.  One thing that's hindering him is dribbling into traffic and coughing it up a bit too much, although it didn't happen tonight because the Nets were doing their best impression of Scott Schroeder defense.  I don't think it's absurd to think Jrue can be a capable starter on both ends next season, when we will presumably be an actual basketball team.  +18 for him on the night.
  
• A key to this game was Andre Iguodala taking the ball to the basket.  He didn't shoot any three's tonight and while he claimed it wasn't a conscious decision, I believe someone got to him and told him to play to his strengths.  At least that's what I would say.  20 points on 14 shots with 8 dimes and a bunch of orchestrating fast breaks.  While Chris-Douglas-Roberts-got-the-best-of-him (enough hyphens CDR?) to the tune of 23 crafty points (have I mentioned he's crafty?), he held Terrence Williams to 4-16 shooting.  In this post game interview, he said "I'm just trying to play 82." I can definitely respect it, and feel bad for a player so talented that has to deal with a team this awful, but then I remember he's in the NBA and stop feeling bad.  Still hope he gets traded in the offseason with Brand.
• Nice game out of Rodney Carney, who hasn't done much of anything this year.  11 points on just 2-3 shooting and 5 rebounds in 14 minutes.  His athleticism is really otherworldly, he just hasn't been able to refine his game to the point where he's decent at anything but being the wing on a fast break.  I don't think he's back next season. 
  
• Another solid game from Samuel Dalembert, who continues to put together his most consistent season of his enigmatic career.  10 points, 9 boards, and 5 controlled blocks and not nearly as many stupid plays this season as he's averaged the rest of his life.  He kept Brook Lopez in check, and although I still think the front office will be looking to move him this offseason, Sammy has been one of few great stories in this long, long season.  Whatever happens, at least his value has gone up and he seems like he may have matured.
• The Nets are 7-61. If they don't get a top 3 pick, Kiki Vandeweghe will single-handedly murder the lotteryballpickerguydude.  As long as we get in there, I'll be down like a clown Charlie Brown.
• Modie Jeeks got in the game despite not ever being up 30.  I can therefore assume that everything Eddie Jordan has said is a lie.  He got a point.
  
• The Sixers shot 56% from the field compared to 41% for New Jersey and STILL only won by 11.  Maybe if Francisco Elson got some PT, things would be different.  I'm his biggest fan.
• Josh Boone's ugliness continues to amaze me.  But it's okay because prettyboy Kris Humphries makes up for it, second only to Joe Mauer of Minnesota-born aff-letes.
  
• First round of March Madness action starts tomorrow at noon. Last chance to sign up! Password still ricko.  I'm literally DVRing the entire day of college basketball tomorrow because I'll be in NYC interviewing for things that are much less important than the day 1 of the tournament. Damn you future mike!

I hate winning.  Knicks on Friday, gotta get that loss loss loss, that future loss loss loss, give it to me.

NetsDaily is a quality place

Box score

Third Quarter Collapse

Our backs are officially against the wall. Game six could be the last we see of the Sixers until the November. Can they shock the world one (two) more times?

Tonight's game sucked, no doubt about it. The fact of the matter is, the Magic are a better basketball team. They have better shooters. They have more depth. They execute better. Does that mean the Sixers are out of the series? No, absolutely not.

First let's talk about the giant elephant in the room, Dwight Howard's pending suspension -- will he or won't he? Dwight threw a Chuck Liddell-like elbow in the direction of Sammy D's dome in the first quarter. Chris Webber, Kenny Smith and Sir Charles are all on record saying he should and he will be suspended. My gut says D12 will be watching game six from the bench. Will I be surprised if I'm wrong? No, this is a star's league and it wasn't as malicious as it could have been. However; this comes straight from the NBA rule-book.

l. A player, coach or trainer must be ejected for: 
(1) A punching foul 
(2) A fighting foul 
(3) An elbow foul which makes contact above shoulder level 

If Dwight is indeed suspended, game six becomes a very, very winnable game for the Sixers, but I'll save the analysis for another day.

There are a few more things we can take from tonight's game. Number one, Andre Iguodala is amazing. The only thing I can complain about is his awful free throw shooting. Other than that he's been brilliant. One of Iguodala's biggest criticisms coming in to the series was his inability to "flip the switch" and put the team on his shoulders. Problem solved. In the Sixers ever-problematic third quarter, Iguodala felt the game slipping away and took over. He continuously put his head down, drove to the basket and got to the line. He also hit a big three to cut the lead to eight and grabbed a man's rebound over two Magic players. Andre needs to do two things this summer, shoot nine million free throws and get some rest. The dude has to be tired from all the minutes he's racking up (47 tonight).

On the other side of the spectrum, Lou Williams officially sucks. He's the worst perimeter on the team. He's the worst team defender on the team. He hurts the offense more than he helps. And I'd even go as far to say that I'd rather see Bill Green on the floor than Lou Williams. I cannot tell you how pissed off I was with Lou-Will tonight. Missed shots I can live with. The palming violation I can live with. Those things happen. What I cannot live with is him allowing J.J. Redick wide open threes, allowing 900-year old Anthony Johnson to blow by him or weak double-teams on Dwight Howard. Does he seriously thing that his 6-foot, 180 pound frame is going to affect Dwight Howard by just standing next to him with his hands up? You either double hard or don't double at all. 

The only other guy worth mentioning is Thaddeus Young, and not because he played well. I've been super disappointed with how quiet Thaddeus has been this series. For the final month of the season, Thaddeus was dominant on offense. He was oozing with confidence. This series? Not so much. He's hesitant. His offense isn't there. His defense is average at best. And his inexperience has really shown. Maybe his ankle's a little worse than he's been leading on? Regardless of what it is, I'm not worried about "Baby Legs" one bit. He has a good head on his shoulders. He has all the tools to become a great player. And he has an awesome work ethic. Expect the big "third year jump" from him next season.

The same cannot be said for Lou Williams sorry butt. Sorry, I had to get one more cheap shot in there.

Down 3-2, we're about to see what this Sixers team is made of. Game six is on Thursday, and I'll wait and see what happens with Dwight Howard before making any hasty predictions. We're not done just let.

Box score

Third Quarter Collapse

Tonight marks the ninth time the Sixers have lost in the final seconds this season. That's right, nine times! You would think after nine times I'd be used to the pain and devastation that comes with game-winners -- I'm not. The Sixers stormed back to tie the game with 14 seconds left. After the Sixers knotted the game at 81 the Magic ran an isolation for Hedo Turkoglu at the top of the key. Turk -- originally guarded by Andre Iguodala -- used a screen to force Thaddeus Young to switch and drilled a three-pointer in Thad's eye with 1.1 to go. It's unfair to criticize Thad's defense on the last play, but it has to be noted that he gave a 6'10'' NBA sharpshooter way too much room to get the shot off.

Besides the Turkoglu three, the Magic tied the series because of four things.

1. Good defense in the second half.
2. Awful offensive showings from the Sixers "big 3" (16-48).
3. Dwight Howard.
4. First half officiating.

Box score

This Quarter Collapse

Two wins, two game-winners. What more could you ask for? Thad's wasn't as dramatic as Iguodala's, but amazing nonetheless. 

The Sixers failed to dominate the game like I wanted, but there are no style points in the playoffs -- just wins and losses. They looked amazing for the first 30 minutes, but eventually blew a 17-point lead and needed a "baby legs" baby layup to win the game. How Thaddeus got his shot off over an outstretched Dwight Howard, I'll never know.

Honestly, whatever happens from here on out, we should be proud to call ourselves Sixers fans. The whole world thought we'd be lucky to win one game. We've won two. This is a 59-win team we're talking about. Through three games, the Sixers have given the Magic much more than anyone expected. Not only have our two wins been impressive, but they've been game-winners. In a year where Sixers fans have been devastated by game-winner after game-winner, the tables have finally turned, and it couldn't have happened at a better time.

We're up 2-1, yet "experts" continue to call us lucky. Good for them. What are they going to say if we win two more games? The more doubters, the better the wins feel, so keep 'em coming.

Sixers best performer: Andre Iguodala -- you can't say enough about this guy. He hit big shot after big shot tonight. His jumper was smooth. He forced the issue and got to the line when the offense stalled. He sensed when his team needed him and flipped the proverbial switch. He's officially arrived folks. I love Andre Iguodala.

Sixers worst performer: Bill Green would win this award every night if we let him, but I'm going with Lou Williams. Lou missed three huge free throws and he blew a huge defensive assignment on Rashard Lewis. We need Lou to have more games like game one to win this series.

Every other Sixer played a solid game by my book and DiLeo did a decent job until the end where he played Bill Green. I'm not sure what his infatuation with playing Bill Green in the fourth is, but I don't like it.

Now I'm going to spend the rest of the day enjoying a 2-1 series lead and watching the NFL draft.

Until later...

P.S. Magic fans, you really have something special in Dwight Howard.

Can't believe it. We're up 2-1. The playoff beard lives on!

Party tonight!!! Recap tomorrow morning.

Enjoy fellas!

I have an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The 8 role players and head coach let me down tonight. The "big 3" showed up, and if the Sixers would've gotten a contribution from anyone else we'd have ourselves a 2-0 lead.  I've allowed the loss to linger for a few hours, but I still can't get over it.

Why did Andre Iguodala score only 1 point in the first half?

Why did Bill Green play 20+ minutes?

Why did DiLeo play Donny-Ice when we needed stops and sit him when we needed threes?

Why is Courtney Lee averaging 21 points this series?

Who in their right mind would allow Reggie Evans to guard Dwight Howard?

Why couldn't we get a defensive rebound?

Why don't we get to the free throw line anymore?

Why is Bill Green playing at all?

Sigh. Please don't be as disappointed as I am. We're still going back to Philadelphia with a split. We have home-court advantage. And this Magic team is very beatable. They proved it tonight be allowing the Sixers to hang around in a game they should have dominated.

Now I'm off to watch some Fresh Prince re-runs to ease the pain. Hopefully a couple hours of sleep and a long day at work will erase this from my memory.

I'll preview game 3 tomorrow night.

Until then...

Box Score

Third Quarter Collapse

Am I surprised the Magic evened the series tonight? No. Am I disappointed? Very. Both teams played poorly, but I feel like the Sixers could have easily won the game. 80 percent of their problems came from sheer carelessness or laziness. 16 turnovers -- careless. 14 offensive rebounds allowed -- lazy.

As poorly as Orlando played, the Sixers played worse. If they play an average basketball game, they come out on top. The Sixers might have blown a rare opportunity to grab ahold of this series tonight. The Magic aren't going to shoot 26 percent from downtown very often, which brings me to my next point.

I strongly believe the Magic's three-point shooting in the first game was stifled by good defense. Tonight however; the Sixers reverted back to their old ways, allowing a good amount of open shots, but the Magic didn't make them. Unfortunately the Sixers failed to capitalize.

Three players who cannot be blamed for tonight's loss are Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young.

Stat of the night: Miller, Iggy and Thad scored 71 points. Everyone else scored 16.

There's not too much to say about the Sixers "big 3". They all came to play tonight (minus a couple turnovers), and I'll take games like these any night. 

I also had a couple problems with coach DiLeo. One, why did we go back to double-teaming? After having success without it, the Sixers not only doubled Dwight tonight, but Hedo, Rashard and Courtney Lee at times. Is this DiLeo's fault or over-aggressiveness by the players? Either way DiLeo needs to end it real fast.

The other problem I had with DiLeo was, he played Bill Green for 20 minutes. It's bad enough that we have to witness the "Garbage" Green for 20 minutes, but DiLeo was also running plays for him! You know the situation's bad when the opposing announcers are commenting on how awful your player is.

There's not much else to say. A series split is nice. I feel like we should have won tonight, but I'll get over it, and I hope the Sixers do as well. Game three is in Philadelphia on Friday night. Let's protect home court!

P.S. The officiating was atrocious for both teams tonight.