A dominant fourth quarter propelled the Sixers to a shocking victory over the San Antonio Spurs tonight. However that's all is it for now -- a win -- nothing more. It's not an indicator that the Sixers are going to make the playoffs, and it's not an indicator they're a championship team, so let's stop the overreaction train right now, before it gains any steam.
While I was watching the game I couldn't help but think how much of a matchup problem the Sixers are for the Spurs. The Spurs are old and slow, the Sixers are young and fast, and it showed tonight with the insane amount of fast break points the Sixers hung on the Spurs (38).
Overall it was a nice win. The fourth quarter was fun to watch, and the Sixers put together a full quarter of good basketball against a good team for once. I'll be interested to see how they respond against the Bulls tomorrow night.
On to the development of the young guys ...
I have to admit, I did a quadruple-take when I looked at the box score and saw that Jrue Holiday played a career-high 45 minutes. His previous career-high was 39 and he's only averaged 24 minutes since becoming a starter. Why the change? I wish I knew. It might have something to do with Willie Green being injured, it might be a mandate from the GM, it might be a change of heart by Eddie Jordan, or a complete coincidence. We'll have to wait and see if it continues.
As for his performance, he had his ups and downs. His offensive game was pretty impressive in the first quarter. He was stroking the J, finishing inside and setting up his teammates. The second quarter was a different story. He forced a couple bad passes, and took a couple of bad shots.
His defense on San Antonio's point guards (Tony Parker and George Hill) was borderline-terrific, but he was forced to guard Manu Ginobli for a decent amount of time, and had some trouble.
Grade: B
Lou Williams
Lou was brilliant on the offensive end tonight. He drove to the hoop at will, made jump shots, made free throws, and set up his teammates beautifully. 14 of his 20 points came in the fourth quarter, as he carried the team on offense.
He had some troubles on the other end of the floor, but actually played better defense than usual. His two blocks were awesome.
Grade: B+
Andre played one of his best games of the year tonight. He did take more jumpers than I'd like, but he was obviously feeling it. Along with his efficient shooting night (7-12, 1-1, 5-5), he had 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks and zero turnovers.
Grade: A+
Thaddeus Young
Thad provided some energy off the bench and not much else.
Grade: C
Let me introduce you to the new Willie Green! Speights played 15 minutes, took 8 shots, made four of them, and grabbed a total of zero rebounds. He continues his step backward this season.
Grade: D+
Jodie made his Sixers debut tonight. He played 1 minute, took 2 shots, and missed both of them. However; the Sixers are 1-0 with the Jodiac Killer.
Grade: A+++
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Next up: @ the Bulls tomorrow night.