Sixers Fall as The Answer Rises

By Sean Kennedy

On Saturday night, the Sixers honored one of the most prominent figures in franchise history as they raised Allen Iverson’s number 3 to the rafters, never to be worn again by another Philadelphia player. The list of names in attendance paying their respects to the Answer included all-time greats like Dr. J, Moses Malone, and Gary Payton, and Iverson’s contemporaries like Dikembe Mutumbo, Theo Ratliff, and Clarence Weatherspoon. Now, I was never as much of a die-hard Iverson fan as some of my friends as a kid. I remember having arguments with people that even if he had 30 points, it wasn’t necessarily a good game if he shot 11 for 28. But there was no denying that when he was on his game, AI was as breathtaking and spectacular a player to watch as any throughout history.

Something about the way a man his size always fearlessly attacked the basket time after time connected with the fan base in a way few Philadelphia athletes ever have. Even his flaws served to humanize him and make fans feel a closer connection with the star point guard. The Iverson growth chart I received at a game as a kid still hangs in my childhood bedroom to this day. When I eventually grew to the same size and then taller than the man himself, it only helped solidify the amazement that someone of his stature went toe to toe with the giants of the game. The fact that there was a sold-out crowd for the game against the Wizards, when most of those in attendance were probably confused as to who the majority of the players on the court for the Sixers were, spoke volumes to the legacy Iverson still has in the city to this day.

Oh, that’s right, there was actually a basketball game book-ending the Iverson halftime ceremony. Another game, another player going off for a career night from the perimeter. This time it was Trevor Ariza dominating the Sixers, finishing with a career-high 40 points to lead the Wizards to a 122-103 victory over Philadelphia. Ariza hit his first 8 three-pointers of the games, 6 of which he sank in the first quarter on his way to 24 points in the opening period. He became the first Wizard with 20 in a quarter since Michael Jordan in 2001, bringing things full circle when Iverson mentioned Jordan as an inspiration for him as a young player on the streets of Virginia during his halftime speech.

Much of Ariza’s success was due to the play of John Wall, who ran circles around the Sixers defense and continually found Ariza and other teammates for open looks on his way to a career-high-tying 16 assists. On a night where the Sixers gave the ball away, the play of those two Wizards was enough to take them down. Fortunately for Sixers fans, at least on this night, they had memories of happier times to occupy their thoughts.

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• The defeat to Washington was the 13th straight loss for the Sixers, their longest losing streak since ’96-’97, Iverson’s rookie year. With the added parallel that Michael Carter-Williams is the rookie-of-the-year frontrunner after AI won the award that year, the Sixers can only hope MCW has a sliver of Iverson’s success going forward.
• As noted by @tmoore76ers, during the post-ceremony press conference, Iverson stated regarding the rebuilding team, ‘It’s hard for me to watch Sixers games, so I don’t. I don’t like the season they’re having.’ It’s hard for the rest of us too Allen, the 2014-15 season with two lottery picks joining MCW, Noel, and Thad can’t come fast enough.

Tanking Implications:

The point guards carried the load for the Sixers as MCW finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, but also had 4 turnovers and could do nothing to slow down John Wall on the defensive end. Tony Wroten finished with a team-high 19 points, getting to the line 12 times, hitting 9 as his free-throw shooting has markedly improved over the past month. Finally, the newcomer of the bunch had another solid outing, as Eric Maynor dropped 13 points on 5-7 shooting in just 18 minutes of action. Still, the Sixers never really made the Wizards sweat and with #3 in house, I can only go 3/5 tanks