Nov 16 2008
Sixers and Flyers each win twice
On Friday, the Sixers rallied from a 26-point deficit on the road to beat the Indiana Pacers 94-92. The Sixers trailed 36-13 after the first, but only trailed 57-49 at halftime. From there, they slowly chipped away and gained their first lead late in the fourth quarter at 92-90 on an Andre Miller lay-up. Miller finished with 19 points. The Sixers were led by Thaddeus Young, who scored 25 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. Elton Brand has 14 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Andre Iguodala had 10 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks. Willie Green provided a spark off the bench with 14 points. It was a great win for the Sixers and hopefully a sign that they’re starting to come together.
On Saturday, the Sixers picked up another win, this time a 110-85 blowout win at home over the Oklahoma City Thunder. This game was a lot closer than the final score leads you to believe as the Sixers only lead 46-42 at halftime. Then in the third, the Sixers blew the game open and the rout was on. Thad once again paced the Sixers with 23 points. Samuel Dalembert finally had a good game, scoring 13 points and pulling in 16 rebounds while blocking 3 shots. Iggy and Brand each added 15 points. All 12 Sixers that dressed got on the score sheet with Marreese Speights leading the way off the bench with 9 points and 8 rebounds. The kid just plays with tons of energy.
The Sixers return to action on Wednesday when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Go Sixers!
Now let’s talk about the Flyers, who picked up a huge 2-1 win in Montreal on Saturday. The Flyers were essentially carried by a very strong second period, where they outshot the Canadiens 18-7, but more importantly Philly outscored Montreal 2-0. Scottie Upshall scored the game’s first goal early in the period and Jeff Carter gave the Broad Street Bullies a two-goal advantage 10 minutes later. Montreal cut their deficit in half on an Alex Tanguay goal about halfway through the third period, but luckily the Flyers were able to hold on for the win, including killing off a questionable Jeff Carter hooking penalty late in the game. Martin Biron came up huge, making 24 saves.
To close out the weekend, the Flyers picked up another one-goal win, this time beating the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in Philadelphia on Sunday. Philly got off to a hot start when Simon Gagne scored less than a minute in the game. Then, Mike Knuble put the Flyers up 2-0 with a goal in the final minute of the first period. Erik Christensen cut Atlanta’s deficit in half early in the second, but Kimmo Timonen scored to put the Flyers back up two goals. The Thrashers refused to go away as Bryan Little scored 35 seconds into the third and Slava Kozlov scored a little over 11 minutes later to tie the game at 3-3. Then the Flyers remembered that they always beat the Thrashers, so Joffrey Lupul scored the game-winner with a little over 6 minutes left in the game. Antero Niittymaki stood on his head in the third to preserve the win as Atlanta uncorked 21 of their 32 total shots in the final frame. Nitty made 29 saves and improved to 11-0 all-time against the Thrashers. That’s pretty nuts.
The Flyers return to action on Friday when the travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres.
Let’s Go Flyers!
