The Sixers came out of tonight's game with a very, very solid win. It was an all-around team effort. Not a single player scored more than 15 points. More importantly, they played awesome team defense in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Heat 31-15 and holding Dwyane "clutch" Wade to a whole 1 point.
Tonight was also a key win when it comes to the playoff picture. With the W, the Sixers move within one game of the Heat for the 6th seed. With 33 games remaining, I have two personal goals I want the Sixers to achieve by season's end. Number one: get into the playoffs with a better seed than we had last season (7th). Number two: Finish over .500, preferably at 45-37. Tonight's win gets the Sixers over .500 yet again, and hopefully there is no looking back. It would be wonderful to go into the all-star break at 27-24.
On to individual performances. Tonight was not Andre Iguodala's night. He wasn't able to get anything going throughout the game. Call it an off night, call it Shawn Marion's defense, but Iggy had an off night. I'd be willing to bet that he blames it on his new shooting sleeve. Expect his left arm to be bare next game.
Willie Green's stat lines are always fun to look at. He had 10 points on 12 shots. He did not get to the free throw line, nor did he come down with a rebound.
Marreese Speights was an absolute monster tonight. He was very active. He was blocking shots. He was dunking. He was hitting his free throws. He was making J's. It was a thing of beauty. The last couple minutes of the game turned into Speights vs. Beasley. It was pretty entertaining. The big difference between to the two is Speights activity on defense and on the boards.
Samuel Dalembert had another decent game. He was limited to 22 minutes because the Heat went with a small lineup for most of the game, but while he was in there he pulled down 10 boards and blocked 3 shots. He also didn't miss a shot or commit a turnover.
Lou-Will basically sparked the 23-5 run the Sixers went on in the fourth quarter, but he still takes way too many stupid shots and commits way too many stupid turnovers. He's by far the most frustrating Sixer to watch.
Royal Ivey played good defense on Wade and hit two big time threes. Him and Reggie Evans are the team's true "lunchpail" guys.
The bench as a whole really bounced back tonight. They've been struggling to build on the leads, or keep them when the starters rest. Tonight the bench scored 41 and was on the floor for most of the dominating fourth quarter.
Next up are the suddenly sliding Phoenix Suns.