Nov 13 2008
Brand leads Sixers over Raptors
Elton Brand finally showed why the Sixers gave him $83 million. Well, at least for one night. Brand scored a season-high 25 points with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal to lead the Sixers to a 106-96 win over the Raptors. Hopefully this type of stat line becomes the norm for Mr. Brand throughout the season. It was Philly’s first road win of the year. Until last night, Toronto had won eight of their last ten against the Sixers, including a 95-84 win in the season-opener. The Sixers also snapped out of a week-long scoring slump, in which they were held under 90 points in each of their last three games. This could be a sign that this team is finally starting to jell, especially since they put this performance together after playing the night before in Philly.
Andre Iguodala filled up the stat sheet for his third time in as many games with an 18 point, 10 assist, and 9 rebound performance. Andre Miller added 18 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Samuel Dalembert was plagued by foul trouble much of the game and only scored 2 points with 2 rebounds in 20 minutes. Not his best effort. Thaddeus Young’s slump extended to a second game after his 7 point and 5 turnover performance. I want to believe that the Sixers will get a lot more good performances than bad performances out of Thad this year, but I think that he will be plagued by inconsistent play throughout the year.
The Sixers also had a solid bench performance, led by Willie Green, who poured in 17 points to go along with 9 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal. Rookie Marreese Speights added 12 points, 7 rebounds, a block and an assist in 19 minutes. Louis Williams netted 7 points. It was the third straight game that Lou Will scored in single-digits after scoring in double-digits in four of the first five games.
Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 30 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and a steal. Jermaine O’Neal had a double-double of his own with 19 points and 11 rebounds plus 2 blocks and an assist. The Sixers D put the clamps on the rest of Toronto’s starting five as Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker, and Jamario Moon combined for 18 points on 7-for-29 shooting. However, Calderon suffered an injury at the end of the first and only played 13 minutes in the second and third quarters and didn’t play in the fourth. Andrea Bargnani provided a spark off the bench with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting plus 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and assist.
The Sixers (3-5) return to the court on Friday when they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers (4-3).
Go Sixers.
