Philly Sports Today

After leading by as many as 22 points late in the first half, the Sixers fended off a furious second half rally by the New York Knicks and held on for a 108-103 victory. Philly’s win also gave them a season sweep over New York for the first time since the 1985-1986 season (i.e. Patrick Ewing’s rookie year). On the other hand, the Flyers were not as fortunate in their game. The Orange and Black’s regular season struggles continued against the Canadiens as they lost 4-3 in overtime after a questionable goalie interference penalty against Scottie Upshall that gave Montreal a power play opportunity.

Let’s start with the Sixers, who looked like they were going to run away with this game as they led 49-27 with a little over three minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Knicks cut their deficit to 15 points at halftime, and only trailed by six points heading into the fourth quarter. With a little over two minutes remaining in the game, New York only trailed by two points. However, they could not get any closer as Andre Miller scored four of Philly’s final seven points as the Sixers escaped with a 108-103 win.

Miller absolutely abused New York’s smaller guards to the tune of 25 points, six assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Thaddeus Young also shouldered some of the offensive load by pouring in 23 points. Andre Iguodala didn’t have his best shooting night, but chipped in 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Sameul Dalembert picked up his third straight double-double with 10 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks. Louis Williams added 10 points off the bench.

Former Sixer first rounder Larry Hughes, who played 34 minutes off the bench, paced the Knicks with 25 points, four rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Al Harrington added 23 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while David Lee picked up his 22nd straight double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Duhon chipped in 11 points and six assists, while Nate Robinson scored 14 points off the bench.

The Sixers will get back to business tonight when they return home to host Dwight Howard and the Southeast Division-leading Orlando Magic. The Magic have won the first two games in the season series.

Go Sixers!

Onto the Flyers, who have now lost six straight regular season home games to Montreal and nine of their last ten regular season games against the Canadiens. Things looked promising early on as Joffrey Lupul lit the lamp only 28 seconds into the game and Mike Richards added an unassisted tally later in the period to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. However, Philly got very sloppy late in the first period and the Canadiens took advantage by scoring three goals in a two minute and four second span. First, Tomas Plekanec scored a power play goal, and Tom Kostopoulos tied it up 13 seconds later. Then, Flyer-killer Alexei Kovalev gave Montreal the lead with a slap shot that hit Antero Niittymaki’s shoulder, flew straight into the air and bounced behind him and into the net. Just like that, the Canadiens had a 3-2 advantage.

The Flyers answered in the second period when Simon Gagne stole the puck at the blue line from Patrice Brisebois and scored a breakaway goal to tie the game at 3-3. Neither team scored in the third period, so it was off to overtime. Upshall was the victim of a bad goaltender interference penalty, and halfway through Montreal’s man advantage, recently-acquired Mathieu Schneider fired a blast past Niitty to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win.

With the exception of that lapse at the end of the first period, Niittymaki was pretty solid and made 32 saves. His counterpart Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 of the 38 shots that he faced. The Flyers actually had more power plays than the Canadiens, but could not convert on any of them. Philly was 0-for-8 with the man-advantage, while Montreal was 2-for-5. The fourth place Flyers are now only three points ahead of the fifth place Canadiens in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Flyers will look to gain ground on the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils when they travel to the Prudential Center tomorrow afternoon. Philly’s game in New Jersey is the first of three straight against a first place team. With Martin Brodeur back in net for the Devils, it will be very difficult to get a win.

Let’s Go Flyers!

After three Spring Training games, the Philadelphia Phillies are a dismal 0-3. None of the games have even been close. But you know what? Who cares? The results of Spring Training games are absolutely meaningless. It’s not about winning games in February or March. It’s about winning games in October. Last year, the Phightins were 12-18-1 during Spring Training and they wound up winning the World Series. The most important thing to look for right now is that the regulars get their work in and they don’t even need to play that well right now. It also wouldn’t be bad if some of the “top prospects” played well.

In Wednesday’s Grapefruit League opener against the Pirates, the Phils lost 8-2. Jamie Moyer pitched well in his first start. The crafty left-hander threw two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out two. Joe Blanton pitched one inning in relief and allowed one run on two hits and struck out a pair of Bucs. Bum pitchers Joe Bisenius and Scott Nestor combined to allow seven runs in two innings. In his Phillies debut, left fielder Raul Ibanez went 1-for-2 with an RBI single. John Mayberry, a minor league outfielder who could provide the Phils with a right-handed power bat in the future, also went 1-for-2 with an RBI single. Additionally, Jimmy Rollins, Greg Dobbs, and Geoff Jenkins each had singles. Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Matt Stairs, Eric Bruntlett, Chris Coste, Ronny Paulino, Jason Donald, Lou Marson, Marcus Giles, and Anthony Hewitt each went hitless.

On Thursday against the Blue Jays, the score (6-2) was a little closer, but the result was still the same. Two young guns vying for the fifth spot in the starting rotation were on the hill and both were very impressive. Carlos Carrasco threw two perfect innings and struck out three. Not to be outdone, J.A. Happ threw two shutout innings and allowed one hit, while striking out one. Rollins and Dobbs each had RBI singles. Mayberry hit a double and scored a run. Pablo Ozuna also had a hit. Howard went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Carols Ruiz, Miguel Cairo, Donald, Ibanez, Bruntlett, Giles, and Paulino went hitless too.

Still in search of their elusive first win, the Phillies fell behind early and never recovered as they lost 10-3 to the Reds. Starter Andrew Carpenter got shelled, giving up four runs on three hits and three walks without recording an out. J.C. Romero was a bit shaky, pitching two innings in relief and allowing an unearned run and three walks. Ryan Madson came on in relief of J.C. and pitched a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out one. Victorino, who was named to Team USA today as an injury replacement for Grady Sizemore, celebrated by going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and scored a run. Ibanez had an RBI double and Dobbs had an RBI single. Ozuna went 2-for-3 with a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning and give the Phils their first homer of the Spring. Donald, Hewitt, Stairs, Cairo, Jenkins, Giles, and Marson went hitless. At least Donald has been able to do a nice job in the field at both second and third.

In other news, the Phillies finally released Adam Eaton after two disastrous seasons. They still owe Eaton $9.15 million this season ($8.65 million in salary and a $500,000 buyout on a 2010 club option). If Eaton signs with another team, the Phillies will owe $8.75 million. It’s great that the Phils got rid of him, but it sucks that they still owe him all of that money.

Next, as I have said all along, Nomar Garciaparra will not be a Phillie in 2009. Ruben Amaro stated that Nomar is either going to sign with the A’s or not play at all. At this point, it doesn’t look like the Phillies will be making any more moves before Opening Day.

Finally, the Phillies remain cautiously optimistic that both Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz will be ready for Opening Day. Utley is much further along in his rehab than Feliz and there is still no indication of when Feliz will take live batting practice. Jayson Werth also still hasn’t played yet this Spring, but Charlie Manuel said that there is no reason to worry about him. Cole Hamels is another guy that has yet to see any action. Hopefully we’ll get to see King Cole baffle opposing hitters in the near future.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Phils and Tampa Bay Rays will meet for the first time since Game 5, part 2 of the 2008 World Series. Kyle Kendrick, who is in the running for the final spot in the rotation, will get the start.

Go Phillies!

It was a pretty good night for Philadelphia sports. Martin Biron recorded his 25th career shutout as the Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 to move within four points of the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils. In addition, the Sixers won for the first time in two weeks and snapped a four-game losing streak as they slipped past the hapless Washington Wizard 106-98. It was the second consecutive night that a Philly team left our nation’s capital with a victory. Good times.

Let’s start with the Flyers. There wasn’t a ton of action or excitement in their game with the Kings, but a win is a win. Jeff Carter put the Flyers ahead with a power play goal late in the second period when he cleaned up a rebound from Joffrey Lupul’s shot. Somehow the puck found its way through a lot of traffic and past L.A. goalie Erik Ersberg, who made 18 saves on the night. The goal was Carter’s 36th of the year, which moves him into sole possession of second place in goals behind Alexander Ovechkin. Simon Gagne sealed the victory by scoring an empty-netter with one second left in the game.

The star of the game was Biron, who stopped all 34 shots that he faced to earn his second shutout of the season. At this point, both Biron and Antero Niittymaki appear to be playing well, so who knows which one will emerge as the starter for the playoffs. It really doesn’t matter at this point and the most important thing right now is to try to get catch the Devils. Maybe two hot goalies are better than one?

One interesting thing to note about last night’s game is that Florida Panthers GM Jacques Martin was in attendance and will also be at Friday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. With the Flyers extremely interested in acquiring Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, maybe Martin was getting an up-close look at what Philly has to offer. However, in order to acquire the defenseman, the Flyers would need to put together a package equal to or more than Bouwmeester’s $4.875 million dollar salary. As a result, players that could be included in a package are Lupul ($2.3 million cap number jumps to $4.25 next season), Matt Carle ($2.9 million cap number this season, which escalates to $3.5 million in each of the next two years and $3.8 million in 2011-12), and Braydon Coburn (one-year remaining on a contract with a $1.3 million cap hit).

The Flyers will return to the ice tomorrow night when they host the Canadiens, who are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and trail the Flyers by four points. These two teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs and Danny Briere is supposed to make his return after missing 35 games, so it should be a good one.

Let’s Go Flyers!

Now, onto the Sixers, who picked up their first post-All-Star break win by defeating the Wizards 106-98. The victory also moved Philly back to .500 and gave them a four-game sweep of the 13-44 Washington squad. I don’t know how impressive it is to sweep an awful team since everyone seems to beat the Wiz, but I’ll still take it. The game was close until the third quarter, when Philly outscored Washington 26-14 to take a 15-point lead into the final quarter. From there, the Sixers didn’t look back and held on for the win.

As has become the norm, Andre Iguodala led the way for the Sixers and came oh-so-close to a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds. The other Andre came to play too as Miller netter 17 points, dished seven assists, and pulled down four rebounds. Samuel Dalembert picked up his third double-double in four games with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks. Willie Green was also in double figures for the second straight night with 12 points. Louis Williams provided a big lift off the bench by pouring in 16 points, while Reggie Evans scored 11 points and hauled in eight boards.

Caron Butler led Washington in scoring with 17 points, but Dominic McGuire had a big night with 14 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. Antawn Jamison and Mike James added 16 points and 15 points, respectively. Javaris Crittenton was the Wizards’ high man off the bench with 11 points.

The Sixers will wrap-up their four-game road trip tomorrow night in Madison Square Garden when they take on the high-scoring New York Knicks, who have scored at least 100 points in 18 straight games. Coincidentally, the last time that N.Y. did not break the century mark was during Philly’s last visit to the Garden on January 17th. Hopefully, the Sixers’ offense shows up since they’ll need all of the points that they can get.

Go Sixers!

Clinging to a measly four-point lead over the ninth place Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference standings, the Flyers needed to figure out how to get a road win over one of the best home teams in the NHL, the Washington Capitals. Things didn’t look good for Philly early on, but a three-goal burst during a three minute and 19 second span in the third period propelled the Flyers to a 4-2 win. It was just another exciting chapter in one of the NHL’s newest and most intense rivalries.

The Caps struck first when Nicklas Backstrom scored only 1:48 into the game and four seconds into a power play to give Washington a 1-0 lead. The hole got a little deeper early in the second period when Alexander Ovechkin found the net. Ovey stole Jeff Carter’s clearing attempt, and as he was falling down after being inadvertently bumped by a teammate, flicked it past Flyers’ goalie Antero Niittymaki to increase the Capitals’ advantage to 2-0.

The Flyers cut their deficit in half during a 5-on-3 power play when rookie Claude Giroux scored from a tough angle to make it 2-1. In the third period, Philly’s offense exploded. Scott Hartnell fired a laser past Washington netminder Jose Theodore, who made 33 saves, to tie the game. One minute and twenty-five seconds later, Carter cleaned up a rebound and lit the lamp to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead. Less than two minutes after Carter’s score, Arron Asham weaved through the Capitals’ defenders and made some nice moves as he totally undressed Theodore and put Philly up 4-2. That was more than enough for Niitty, who made 33 saves and kept Washington off the scoreboard in the third period , as the Flyers left the Verizon Center with a big come-from-behind win.

The Flyers won’t have any time to savor their win as they return to the ice tonight when they host the Los Angeles Kings. When these two teams met earlier this season in the City of Angels, the Kings picked up a 2-1 shootout victory. It’s time for the Flyers to get some revenge.

Let’s Go Flyers!

In the time it took you to read this sentence, Devin Harris could have beaten the Sixers three times. After Andre Iguodala sunk his second free throw to give the Sixers a one-point lead with only 1.8 seconds left, there was no chance that the Nets could win, right? New Jersey had no timeouts and was inbounding the ball from under their own basket. The only way that Philly would lose is if there was some crazy buzzer-beater. Mr. Harris, that’s your cue.

Harris received the inbound on the left sideline an took a dribble. Then Iguodala appeared to knock the ball out of Harris’s hands, and the ball hit Iggy and bounced back into Harris’s hands. Harris immediately planted his right foot and launched a shot. The buzzer sounded while the ball was in flight and the ball magically found its way into the basket. Initially, the basket was waived off and the Sixers had a 96-95 win. However, after reviewing the shot for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the referees reached a unanimous decision that the basket was actually good, giving the Nets a miraculous 98-96 victory. Obviously, the Sixers are furious, but there’s really nothing that can be done now since every source that has watched the replays has concluded that Harris’s shot went off before time expired. While the Sixers can blame the refs for the loss, I think they should also blame themselves for their awful foul shooting. If you only hit 23 of your 37 free throw attempts and lose by two points, I think you deserve a large chunk of the blame for losing since shooting 26-for-37 (70%) from the foul line would have given you a win.

It’s not like losing in the final seconds is anything new to the Sixers. This was the eighth time this season Philly was beaten in the closing seconds of the game, and it’s the second time that it was done by the Nets. New Jersey has won all three meetings with the Sixers this season.

Harris led the Nets with 39 points, eight assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block. With the exception of Harris, the Nets didn’t get (or need) much else on offense. Vince Carter added 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists, but no other starter reached double figures in scoring. Keyon Dooling, who scored 16 points off the bench, was the only other notable offensive player for the Nets.

All five Sixers reached double figures in scoring, led by Iguodala, who had 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Andre Miller (17 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds) and Samuel Dalembert (13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks) each had double-doubles, while Thaddeus Young and Willie Green each poured in 14 points. Louis Williams added 10 points off the bench, and rookie Marreese Speights chipped in five points, including a 10-footer with 26.4 seconds to go that gave Philly a 94-93 lead.

With the loss, the Sixers have lost four straight to remain winless after the All-Star Break. They also dropped their record to 27-28. Just think that if the Sixers were on the right side of their eight heartbreaking losses, they’d be the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Instead, they’re seventh. Hopefully they’ll be able to snap their skid tomorrow night when they travel to Washington to take on the hapless Wizards. However, nothing seems to be guaranteed with the Philly this year.

Go Sixers.