Sixers Freeze Up in Minnesota

Evan Turner spent his all-star break on vacation in the Bahamas.  Five seconds into the game, Turner looked to still have his mind there as Andrei Kirilenko raced behind him for a lay-up off a half-court dish from Ricky Rubio.  Turner was not alone as the entire Sixers team looked to still be on vacation allowing Minnesota to race out to a 35-25 advantage after one quarter.

In that first quarter and throughout the game, Sixers fans were treated to the Nikola Pekovic show, who we learned goes by the nickname of ‘The Godfather’ in Minnesota.  After every Pekovic basket, the PA announcer chanted Nikola to the tune of the horn from the Ricola commercials while also occasionally mixing in the theme music from The Godfather.  We heard that PA horn often in the first half, with Pekovic posting a double-double by halftime with 14 points and 11 rebounds, including 5 on the offensive end.  Together with Derrick Williams, who tallied 12 points and 5 rebounds in the first 24 minutes, the Minnesota front court absolutely dominated Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen early and often.

Desperate to slow down Pekovic and Williams, Doug Collins opted to start Kwame Brown and Damian Wilkins in place of Hawes and Lavoy Allen to start the 2nd half.  You know it’s an emergency when Collins decides to break out Kwame Brown.  Ultimately, this move didn’t amount to much as the Minnesota front court still did its damage.  However, the Sixers were able to bring back the deficit to single digits when Evan Turner got hot and dropped 14 points in the third quarter.

The Sixers eventually got their defense in gear in a big way as they prevented the Timberwolves from making a single field goal over the final 11 minutes, 43 seconds of the game.  Unfortunately, the early deficit proved too big to overcome as Philadelphia could draw no closer than 4 points, ultimately falling 94-87.  It proves when you come into a game missing key players, you can’t come out slow and not play a full 48 minutes.

Pekovic’s final tally was 27 points and a career-high tying 18 rebounds.  For Philadelphia, Jrue Holiday played through foul trouble to record 16 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals, Evan Turner finished with 19 points (most of that coming in the aforementioned third quarter), and Damian Wilkins gave the Sixers good minutes off the bench with 13 points.

On a postivie note, viewers at home were treated to video of Thad Young looking spry in warm-ups earlier in the day.  Hopefully, he’s able to return sooner than later with a Sunday comeback against the Knicks being reported as the earliest possible date of return.  The thin and overmatched Sixers front court could greatly use his return.