There’s a saying in poker: if you look around the table and don’t spot the sucker, you are the sucker. Far too often this season, the Sixers have looked around and seen nothing, done nothing. However, on this Friday evening, Philadelphia recognized a depleted Cavaliers squad and went in for the kill. Following a strong performance in the third quarter, the Sixers went on to coast to a 97-87 road victory.
After a lackluster opening to the game that saw Cleveland end the first quarter on a 7-0 run to earn a lead, the Sixers ended the second quarter on a 9-0 run to tie the game. Thad Young was crucial for Philadelphia in the first half, scoring 14 points on 7-9 shooting, and collecting 5 rebounds. After letting the Cavaliers hang around, the Sixers finally stepped up their game in the third period. In his homecoming to the state of Ohio, Evan Turner channeled his days as a Buckeye in a 23-point, 13-rebound performance. 13 of those points came in the pivotal third quarter, as Turner and the Sixers continued to attack the lane and take advantage of a weak Cavaliers defense. Once Philadelphia built a double-digit lead, it became apparent that Cleveland did not have the dynamic player needed to pull them back into the game.
Aside from Turner, who played his best game in weeks, Spencer Hawes continued his strong play of late, putting up his 6th double-double in the past 8 games, with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jrue Holiday struggled with his floor game early on, as the Cavs threw as many as three guys at Holiday on multiple occasions. However, he rebounded nicely in the second half, finishing with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The victory was not especially impressive aside from the fact that Philadelphia has struggled so much on the road this season. However, the Sixers lost this type of contest on countless occasions this year, and fans need to take the small victories at this point. Philadelphia has shown of late that they can beat good teams at home, and bad teams on the road. If they could put all that together throughout next season, we’ll once again be watching Sixers playoff basketball in 2014.
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