Jan 07 2009
Sixers run past Rockets; Flyers fall to Capitals
After an awful six game road trip, the Sixers finally returned home and picked up a nice 104-96 victory over the Houston Rockets. The two teams were pretty close all night, but Philly blew the game open in the third quarter and was able to hold on for the win. This was one of the only games this year that the Sixers really capitalized on their fast-break offense, which was the main reason that they snuck into the playoffs last season. Will the Sixers be able to keep running on teams once Elton Brand comes back from his injury? Probably not, which is why they won’t make the playoffs, but since this team does not have a reliable shooter, their only chance of beating playoff-caliber teams is to run on them. Don’t you wish that Ed Stefanski somehow had the guts to go all out on restricted free agent Josh Smith instead of signing Elton Brand? How much better would this team be right now with an athletic power forward that can run the floor, which is exactly what they’d need to be successful? I say that they’d definitely have a winning record.
Andre Iguodala, who has continued to shine in Elton Brand’s absence, led the way with 28 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Willie Green added 14 points with Andre Miller chipping in 9 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Louis Williams provided a big lift off the bench 15 points and 8 assists, while rookie Marreese Speights continues to develop into a force by contributing 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks in only 23 minutes. The Sixers look like they have a budding star in Speights and I tend to agree. However, just to play devil’s advocate, everyone thought the same thing about Thaddeus Young last year and that hasn’t turned out well so far for the Sixers, so stay tuned.
Luis Scola had a monster game with 18 points and 17 rebounds to pace Houston’s offense, which had all five starters in double-figures. Tracy McGrady had a mediocre outing with 14 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, and Yao Ming was underwhelming as well with 14 points, 6 boards, and 3 blocks. Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston had a forgettable 10 points and 5 dimes, while Von Wafer chipped in 14 points. Off the bench, Carl Landry provided a nice lift with 14 points and 9 boards.
There’s no time to savor this win for the Sixers as they travel to Milwaukee tonight to take on the Bucks. Even though Milwaukee is not a great team, it’s going to be very tough to win since the Sixers are playing the second of back-to-back games on the road after sending the past two and a half weeks on the road.
Go Sixers!
The Flyers wrapped up a six-game road trip of their own last night, but fell 2-1 in a shootout to their new rivals, the Washington Capitals. Philly went 2-2-2 on the trip (I predicted 3-2-1 before they left, so I was pretty close). However, it was kind of weird that they lost two games in regulation, then won two games, and then lost two games in shootouts. This was actually the Flyers’ third game in a row that went to a shootout, so that will take its toll on this team, especially a team with as many injuries as the Flyers have right now.
After last year’s first round playoff series, in which Joffrey Lupul scored the series-winning goal in overtime in Game 7 in Washington, there has been a lot of bad blood between these two teams. The Flyers crushed the Capitals 7-1 in Philly in the first meeting this year, but Washington got some revenge last night. However, for a team that had been on the road for the past two weeks, you can’t really complain about Philly’s effort against a Washington team that is now 18-1-1 at home.
If only the Flyers could figure out how to win shootouts, they’d be a much better team. In shootouts this season, Philly is now a pitiful 2-5. All-time, the Flyers are an awful 10-23 in shootouts. Think how many points they have left on the ice by being terrible in shootouts. I could list a lot more stats showing how bad the Flyers are in shootouts, but I don’t think that’s really necessary at this time. Posting them later in the season, that’s a different story.
Nicklas Backstrom gave the Caps a 1-0 lead early in the first period with a power play goal and it stayed that way until early in the third period, when Braydon Coburn answered with a power play goal of his own to tie it up at 1-1. Viktor Kozlov scored Washington’s lone goal in the shootout, but it was more than enough as Simon Gagne, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter were all denied by Jose Theodore, who made 33 saves. Martin Biron also had 33 stops for the Flyers.
The Flyers finally return home tomorrow night when they host the Minnesota Wild.
Let’s Go Flyers!
