<div align="center"> <font color=""DarkRed"">Philadelphia 76ers</font> @<font color=""lightblue""> Denver Nuggets</font> Time: Tuesday, 9:00pm (ET) at Nuggets TV: NBALP, CSN <font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""DarkRed"">PG</font>- Allen Iverson <font color=""DarkRed"">SG</font>-Andre Iguodala <font color=""DarkRed"">SF</font>-Kyle Korver <font color=""DarkRed"">PF</font>- Chris Webber <font color=""DarkRed"">C</font>- Samuel Dalembert</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Maurice Cheeks</font> ____________________________ <font color=""lightblue"">Denver Nuggets</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""lightblue"">PG</font>- Andre Miller <font color=""lightblue"">SG</font>- Demarr Johnson <font color=""lightblue"">SF</font>- Carmelo Anthony <font color=""lightblue"">PF</font>- Kenyon Martin <font color=""lightblue"">C</font>- Marcus Camby</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: George Karl</font> </div> <ul><font color="DarkRed">Rebound</font> rebounding is a key everynight for this team. It is a proven fact that whenever they oturebound an opponent they win. It is easier said than done though, and doing it against the likes of Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby will make the job even tougher on Philly.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Team unity</font> The 76ers are coming off a pretty embarrissing performace against the Hawks, in which they lost a lead in the late stages of the game. There was some question marks about the shot selection late in the game, but it never should have came down to that in the first place. The 76ers aren't playing a home game any time soon, so it may be tough to redeem the loss against the Hawks. In order for them to win, they must have confidence in each other. That is the key more then anything else on this road trip.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Push tempo</font> The 76ers should be well rested as they have had a few days off during this holiday time. The Nuggets are currently playing tonight (Monday), so hopefully they will be a fatigue in tommrows game against Philly. With that being said, I expect the 76ers to be more alert and to run the break as much as possible. Usually when teams have a few days without games they tend to either, benefit from it and be a lot more energized, or they come out dull and out off rhythm in a slugish type way. Hoepfully the 76ers will benefit from their rest.[/list] <div align="center"></div> Although the 76ers are coming off of a tough loss, they have got to keep going. Need I remind you that New Jersey is starting to come on, they have won six in a row and have took the Atlantic Division lead. Expect all the analysts to start hoping on them saying things like, "this is the team we expected to see". Meanwhile the 76ers are only a game back or so. The Atlantic is so inconsistent, I wouldn't be surprised if the winner is determined in the last few games of the season, and with that being said every game is very vital. I honestly expect the 76ers to out-energize the Nuggets in Denver. I think we will see a lot of Andre and Allen I on the break. I also think the 76ers will take this, 103-94.
This is gonna be a great game to watch but i have a feeling the nuggets are going to win.. something like.. 107-104
Should be a very interesting game... and a must-win for the Sixers in my opinion. They need a strong showing tomorrow night otherwise their might be some doubts creeping into the players' minds. It was bad enough starting off the trip with a loss at Atlanta, and I don't want to lose two in a row to open up the trip.
I'm just hoping our team can get back on track and win a few games on this grueling road trip. I know that we have a good chance of winning all the remaining games as well as a good chance of losing them all.
This will be a very tight game. Rebounding of course will be the key. Here are some quick predictions I have for tonights game. Iverson will struggle. Camby will be a nightmare for him and he will settle for jumpshots. Iguodala and Korver will have huge games. Webber will struggle against an athletic frontcourt. Demaar Johnson, Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin(if he plays) will come up big. Melo will do a little below average. and despite a 20 and 20 night from Camby, the Sixers will win this when due to Iguodala and Korver's huge games. Sammy and Shav will make some key plays in the 4th. In a nutshell, this will be the "Night of the Youngins''"
I got a different feeling than you all....I think Camby and Martin will probably destory the Sixers on the boards...and that's obviously the biggest difference in the game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I got a different feeling than you all....I think Camby and Martin will probably destory the Sixers on the boards...and that's obviously the biggest difference in the game.</div> Martin hasn't exactly been a monster on the boards all season, so I don't know where you're getting that. At this point his injuries have limited his game and has been inconsistent with his play. However, I do agree that Camby is the ultimate deciding factor in this game. With him playing down low, it'll make it difficult for Iverson to drive it inside, and on top of that, no doubt he's going to out rebound our big men. And everyone knows whenever we don't out rebound the other team, we have a significantly higher percentage of losing. Hopefully maybe Iguodala and Korver will come up big. Korver isn't really going against that great of a defender in Anthony. If Korver goes off, we have a good chance in this game.
You're right Azn. But w/o injuries Martin has always play big when going agaist us and I don't think tonight will be any different, that is of course if he plays.
dont know about you all, but i feel that the sixers will lose a tough one. 98-95. i think that last games loss brought down their spirits a bit and they might not be able to perform with the same intensity. i see the sixers leading by 10 in the third, but like so many games before, they'll give it up and denver will come out with a close one
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">dont know about you all, but i feel that the sixers will lose a tough one. 98-95. i think that last games loss brought down their spirits a bit and they might not be able to perform with the same intensity. i see the sixers leading by 10 in the third, but like so many games before, they'll give it up and denver will come out with a close one</div> If it wasn't for the holidays I would have completly agree with you. But I'm sure the holidays and cheered them up & get them a good mental state and ready to come to work and give it their all. Eventually they will get back to their disfunctional selves but for the time being I expect them to play a very good game tonight. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If Kyle Korver throws down a dunk on Carmelo,Kenyon and Marcus at once then the Sixers win 107-91</div> You'd be lucky if he got a dunk period.
This is really a bad match up for us. All of our weaknesses will be exposed primarily rebounding and defense. It is a huge factor that Kenyon Martin is out, though, he has lost some of has struggled this season he is still an all star caliber player who can turn it on at anytime. Allen Iverson will need to get his teammates involved early and often if we hope to have a chance to win. If Iverson is the only one producing through the first three quarters the Nuggets will just key in on him in the fourth, and his less than confident teammates won’t be able to do anything about it. Other factors to look out for his how often Webber and Iverson have to take a rest. They both average big minutes, but with the altitude in Denver they might tire out quickly, and if that happens the 76ers will be in trouble. Hopefully we will be able to turn Carmelo into a jump shooter, and not allow him to take the ball to the basket like Wade and James did. Game just started looking good so far Webber has scored our first eight points. Melo is getting some easy looks early on though. Let’s see how it turns out.
Webber was huge for us in the first half... 22 points, 6 rebounds, with the majority of the damage (16 points) coming in the opening period. He didn't play for most of the second... or atleast it didn't seem like it to me. Dalembert and Hunter have been protecting the interior pretty well so far, but they definitely did not get called for a lot of the fouls they committed. Hopefully that continues. We're doing a good job on the boards, and it helps that Camby probably won't return (or atleast that's what the Nuggets' announcers said). We need to finish this game strong. We're up 54-52 at the half.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Avery:</div><div class="quote_post">Webber will struggle against an athletic frontcourt.</div> Webber: 22 points, 6 rebs, 1 block Denver's frontcourt isn't looking so athletic now. Sixers lead 54-52 at Half.
At the end of the third quarter, the game is knoted up at 80-80. The fourth quarter means everything, and this season the 76ers have lost some heart breakers. Hopefully they willl pull away and take this game, I wouldn't be able to stand another last second loss.
I haven't seen the highlights yet, but AI hit a jumper with 4 seconds to go to give Philly a two point lead 106-108. They stopped the Nuggets guard Earl Watson, who shot a three to win the game. Amazing games by the leagues best scoring duo. AI had 36, 10 assists, and 5 steals. Chris had a amazing game, and it seems like his looks were shortened in the second half. 32, 15, and 7 for CWebb. On the negative side, Carmelo Anthony had a huge game with a career high 45 points, and the 76ers defense is still looking pretty bad. Hopefully they will figure it out, they seem to be geling on offense maybe defense will take some more time.
'Melo was just on fire... nothing you can do about that, but we limited the other guys. We were lucky that Camby couldn't go after six minutes in the first quarter, otherwise we might have had a tougher time in the paint. Hunter got more minutes this game than Shav. A sign? Or is it just that Mo saw that their second unit was lacking size so he stuck Steven in there? Anyway, good stops by us down the stretch, especially the last two. That last play had me worried because Watson looked like he was open even before the ball was inbounds... and luckily Andre (or was it Salmons... can't remember) contested that three by Watson. We're still undefeated when we outrebound our opponents (12-0). Good win tonight, now we need to go get one in Portland tomorrow night for Mo.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iguodala:</div><div class="quote_post">This is gonna be a great game to watch but i have a feeling the nuggets are going to win.. something like.. 107-104</div> SO CLOSE
I saw the highlights, and the defense on Melo at the end to make him pass the rock was a good idea, but it was also dangerous. Good thing Watson missed that three.
