Back to Earth (Sixers-Pistons Game 4)

Ouch.

The Sixers had a fairly substantial lead at halftime (46-36), but even at that point this game didn't have the same feel as the last one. The shots the Sixers were hitting seemed to have a much higher degree of difficulty, and the defensive rotations didn't seem to be as crisp.

Then, after halftime, the Pistons stepped up the defensive pressure a little bit more, and the Sixers' offense (which looked so good in game 3) ground completely to a halt. The Pistons had basically eliminated the halftime lead within the first two minutes of the second half, and the Sixers never managed to regain control. Rasheed Wallace draining threes (4-7 for the game, 3-3 in the third quarter), the Pistons asserting a huge advantage on the offensive glass (15 to 9), and Richard Hamilton getting hot in the fourth quarter (7-21 for the game, but 6-8 in the fourth quarter) didn't really help our chances.

Final score: Sixers 84, Pistons 93.

It also didn't help our chances that Igoudala was again completely overmatched by Tayshaun Prince. Quite frankly, it didn't really look like the other Pistons were giving Prince much help, and Igoudala still couldn't get anything going. He did have 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but he shot only 4-16 and had 5 turnovers. Not a very pretty boxscore line. Igoudala is a nice player, but I sure hope that his performance in this series convinces people not to overpay him this summer.

Oh well. At least Igoudala had a monster dunk early in the game that we can watch over and over again on youtube. (No one has posted the video to youtube yet, but I'm sure someone will post it soon...)

Go Sixers! (Sixers-Pistons Game 3)

Wow. Sure glad I got to watch that game. I got home mid-way through the second quarter. The Sixers were up two at the time (I think), and it just got better from there. Final score: Sixers 95, Pistons 75.

Even before the Sixers broke the game open, I was thinking that the Sixers looked like they were playing within themselves. On offense, they weren't relying on contested fadeaways or circus shots to score. They were running there offense and getting good looks out of it. On defense, they weren't getting lucky deflections or frantically recovering on penetration. They were staying in front of the Pistons and making solid rotations on passes.

In other words, they looked like a team that completely belonged.

Why do I mention this? When an underdog is beating a favorite, the upset is often the result of a team that is playing above its head -- getting every lucky break, getting every loose ball, hitting shots as the shot clock exires, etc. I often think those games are frantic, and in the end I'm still left with the distinct impression from watching the game that the better team (the favorite) didn't win. Watching the Sixers tonight, I never once got the sense that the better team wasn't winning. If I hadn't known that the Pistons were favored, I would never have guessed that fact based on what I saw. I didn't see the previous games in the series to compare them with this one, but after tonight's game I'm actually believing that the Sixers can win this series. Of course, the Pistons won't have 23 turnovers every game...

The one negative from tonight's game? Igoudala still can't seem to find his rhythm offensively. Quite frankly, he looked like the worst player on the floor tonight. I know that the Pistons are gearing their defense to stop him, but that doesn't explain how bad he looked. Still, I'm feeling pretty happy right now, so no more negative comments from me.

Added bonus: Henry Abbott (TrueHoop) liveblogged from the game tonight.

I can't believe it!

I can't believe the Sixers beat Detroit on Sunday. I also can't believe that I missed the game.

I was traveling this past weekend -- headed to Boston for Passover and to see my girlfriend. I was at my friend's parent's house for Seder on Sunday evening....thus, no chance to watch the game, and no chance to post any thoughts about this series.

(I'm also likely to miss the game tomorrow night. I can't believe I (occasionally) post on a Sixers blog, yet I'm going to miss the first two Sixers' playoff games in the post-Iverson era. Damn.)

Quick thoughts: A Sixers victory in this series would be a huge upset. As a fan, I'm hoping for it and I'm cheering them on, but as an independent observer I can't see the upset happening. And I don't really think the Sixers' victory in Game 1 changes that in any real way. But I sure hope they do! Also, as someone who liked the Reggie Evans signing this past summer, it was nice to see him get a bunch of credit for the victory.

Two "good" losses

I hate to call any loss a "good" loss, but I think the Sixers' last two games fit the bill. After the miracle comeback against the Trailblazers and the blow-out loss to the Wizards, it was important for the Sixers to start playing their opponents tough through the entire game. And they did that in their last two games, an 88-93 loss to the Pistons and a 98-100 overtime loss to the Warriors. Sometimes the other team just hits a game-winning shot...not really much you can do about it at that point.

As usual, the Sixers' defense was very good-- limiting the Pistons and Warriors to offensive ratings of 99.0 and 94.8 respectively. On the other end, the Sixers' offensive efficiency was as dismal as ever, clocking in at 92.2 and 95.5 respectively. The efficiency ratings for the game against the Warriors demonstrate just how close (and perhaps fluky) that game was: the Sixers actually had a better rating than the Warriors, but lost because the Warriors had slightly more possessions-- 103 to 106 by my estimates. This three possession difference is somewhat fluky, and probably resulted from some freak occurrence of shot-clock management at the end of quarters.

I noticed that Reggie Evans had 9 rebounds in 22 minutes against the Warriors, so I'm a bit curious to know why he didn't play more. Unfortunately, the popcorn machine game flow isn't posted yet, so I can't see how the Sixers did while he was on the court. In general, I thought the lesson to be learned from the Jazz's demolition of the Warriors in the playoffs was that teams should go big and just kill the Warriors on the offensive glass. So in my mind, it would have been the perfect type of game to play Evans big minutes. Oh well.

We played two solid games, now it's time for a victory!