Sixers Scorch the Nets

During this recent stretch of losing by the Sixers, there have been games as a fan you went in thinking they could, or even should, come out on top.  Tonight was not one of them.  Traveling off a tough loss the night before and facing a rested Brooklyn team fighting for playoff position, no one could have realistically expected Philadelphia to produce a victory.  I even heard chants of defense from Brooklyn fans in attendance when the Sixers had the ball during the fourth quarter, so it wasn’t as though home court advantage would come into play.  However, in typical Sixers fashion, they flipped convention on its head and broke a five-game losing streak in a 106-97 victory.

The action started out Monday night much as it has gone of late.  Brook Lopez was on fire in the first quarter, delivering 14 points on 7-9 shooting, as Spencer Hawes let him get out-muscle him down low for easy points in the paint.  Getting out-muscled by Brook Lopez is a lot like letting Kanye West be the bigger man in an argument.  To Spencer’s credit though, he brought his A-game on the offensive end, scoring 10 points in the first quarter on his way to a season-high 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.  He even clamped down on Lopez the rest of game as the big man from Stanford finished with only 19 points total.  Hawes was the player of the game for the Sixers and performed to the level of a 6.5 million-dollar man on this night.

Hawes was certainly not alone for the Sixers as the bench unit got the team back into the game during a 10-2 run in the second quarter.  Dorell Wright was the X-factor off the bench for Philadelphia, draining 3 threes on his way to 13 points in the second quarter alone.  Wright nailed a long 29-footer as the shot click expired with under a minute left in the half to put the Sixers up seven.

As the Sixers continued to stay hot from the field in the second half, the one man they didn’t have an answer for was Brooklyn’s Deron Williams.  Looking noticeably slimmer since the all-star break, Williams played more like his former all-star self.  Time and again, Williams relentlessly attacked the basket, either finishing himself for a game-high 27 points or finding open teammates for a game-high 13 assists.  Luckily for the Sixers, Jrue Holiday got out of his funk a little bit, contributing 15 points on 50% shooting and distributing 11 assists himself.  While it would have been nice to see Holiday do a better job stopping Williams defensively, it was an encouraging sign moving forward for him to play a larger role in the offensive success of the team.

Overall, it was a great team win for the Sixers and the type of victory fans had come to expect in better times.  The team took care of the basketball, got balanced production from a lot different players, and generally acted like they cared about the outcome of the contest.  While it remains to be seen whether this is what fans can expect for the rest of the season, for one night at least, it made for an enjoyable basketball game.