<div align="center"> <font size=""4"">@</font> <font color=""navy"">Indiana Pacers(29-26)</font> @ <font color=""darkred"">Philadelphia 76ers(30-28)</font> Arena: Wachovia Center Time:Sunday, March 5th, 1:00pm TV: ABC <font color="navy">Indiana Pacers</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""navy"">PG</font>- Anthony Johnson <font color=""navy"">SG</font>- Stephen Jackson <font color=""navy"">SF</font>- Peha Stojakovic <font color=""navy"">PF</font>- Jeff Foster <font color=""navy"">C</font>- Scott Pollard</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Rick Carisle</font> ____________________________ <font color=""DarkRed"">Philadelphia 76ers</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""DarkRed"">PG</font>- Kevin Ollie <font color=""DarkRed"">SG</font>- Allen Iverson <font color=""DarkRed"">SF</font>- Andre Iguodala <font color=""DarkRed"">PF</font>- Chris Webber <font color=""DarkRed"">C</font>- Steven Hunter</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Maurice Cheeks</font></div> Keys to the Game <ul><font color="darkred">Have a sense of urgency</font> The 76ers have to have a sense of urgency for todays game. As of right now, the 76ers hold the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference, and they are 5-1 since the All Star break. Today, they will have the opportunity to move ahead of the Pacers for the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference, if they win. Every game matters in the NBA season, and unless the 76ers want to play the Heat, or Pistons, or Cavs, then they have to keep playing well and realize the importance of every game from now until the end of the season. The 76ers are also catching up to the Nets, every win or loss is going to have a big impact on the 76ers playoff aspirations. [/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Continue to score</font> The Pacers are a team that thrives on their defense. The 76ers are a team that wins with offense most of the time. Since the All Star break, the 76ers have been shooting over 50% from the field, and are averaging nearly 110 points a game. Assists are also up. If the Sixers can continue to keep scoring and shooting well, they should get a win today. Indiana is 1-10 when their opponents score at least 100 points.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Out play the Pacers inside</font> I think the Sixers should be able to out play the Pacers in the paint. The Pacers star PF/C Jermaine O'Neal will be out due to a groin injury, so I want to see the 76ers attacking the Pacers inside because they do not have a lot of bigman depth to make up for players in foul trouble.[/list] <div align="center"></div> Philly has been playing good, and AI looks like a man on a mission sense he got snubbed by the USA Team. Most importantly, this team finally looks as if they have formed some chemistry. They are playing together, and have been sharing the ball a lot more than they usually did. As long as that continues I don't see the Pacers beating Philadelphia. 105-96 Philly.
AI is POISED to have a big game. I just hope Colangelo says something that insults AI in the pregame show to get Ivy even more fired up. At the end of the day I got the Sixers by 11.
I am taking to sixers by 10 or more i fill that philly are on a mission to win every game from now on.
well, its half time and i just tuned in on abc. so far, its a close game, 44-45 sixers. they need to come out the second half aggressive and just have to keep attacking
To me this is the game that shows us if this team is for real, or is just in the midst of another false hope cycle. The Pacers although a completely different team are still one of the better teams in the conference, and has players who just don’t give up on either end of the court. The 76ers need to win this game. They are down by three right now, but it’s been a back and fourth game. If they win this game I will believe that this team is for real. They are now down by one, and Dalembert is dominating.
Man, complete breakdown in the clutch seconds. Couldn't guard Jackson, and didn't even draw up that great of a play for the last shot.
Man why do they do that? I can`t remember when AI inbounded to Webber and it resulted in a clutch shot.
the pacers got the ugliest line up in the league, look at stephen jackson lol it was stupid the sixers wasnt playing D at the end
What the hell was that in the last 5 seconds? First came the complete breakdown on defense; Stephen Jackson got a wide open layup even after Maurice Cheeks called a timeout, taking Webber out of the game. Then for some reason, AI inbounds the ball...like the Pacers are gonna allow him to get the ball back...the end result is a contested miss 3 point shot by Webber. Poor execution down the stretch. I see this 2 out of every 3 games as a Raptors fan.
That was huge defensive breakdown at the end. That and two horrible offensive possessions at the end of the game just nailed it for the Sixers.
How are you going to give up an uncontested layup like that? Only the Sixers would do something like that. Not to mention the shot they got off at the end. Mo Cheeks what are you thinking? Why would you have your best clutch player inbounding the ball with 2 seconds left?!
I don't see why you guys are angry. We DESERVED TO LOSE THIS GAME. The Pacers should have won by 20+ points, but they gave us hope with turnovers and spurts of inconsistent play. Cheeks was thoroughly outcoached by Rick Carlisle, and the Sixers just didn't wake up for this one. Everytime we made a play, the Pacers responded. Everytime we got a stop, somebody decided to foul the Pacers' big men while getting a rebound. Everytime we got the lead, we gave it right back to the Pacers. Now, before you say we played good defense, we absolutely did not play good defense. The Pacers got any shot they wanted, and beat us on the boards. They were more focused than we were. We repeatedly bailed them out. They controlled this game, and ultimately should have blown us out. Now, I'm tired of seeing us run that sorry excuse for a play at the end of games where Allen inbounds the ball into Webber. That has NEVER led to a game winning basket, or anything positive for us this year. Allen should have the ball in his hands in those situations, not Chris. Webber played horrible basketball in the second half, and shouldn't even have been out there half the time. We couldn't make our free throws either. We missed 10 free throws, and that is inexcusable. Also, I forgot who said it, but somebody said in this thread that Dalembert was dominating. What game were you watching? Yes, he might have got a few dunks here and there, but he was a big reason as to why we couldn't get over the hump in terms of keeping a lead in this game. Everytime we stopped them on defense, he gave the ball right back with a stupid foul trying to get a rebound. This is exactly what is going to happen to this team when they rely on shooting 50% from the field every night, instead of relying on solid defense and rebounding. Ultimately three things are holding this team back, and will continue to do so unless they change it: 1. Rebounding - we have been outrebounded in the last six games. 2. Defense - we are probably the worst team in defending the pick-and-roll. Teams just pick-and-roll us to death, and we can't do anything to stop them. 3. Lack of bench production - combination of the last two; only 1 team has a worse bench than us, and that is the Clippers. Now, instead of moving up into 5th place, we just wiped out our big win on Friday night, and are currently sitting in 7th and are 1/2 game behind Washington (who beat Sacramento today), and 2 and 1/2 games behind NJ for the division lead.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting P.A.P.:</div><div class="quote_post">What the hell was that in the last 5 seconds? First came the complete breakdown on defense; Stephen Jackson got a wide open layup even after Maurice Cheeks called a timeout, taking Webber out of the game. Then for some reason, AI inbounds the ball...like the Pacers are gonna allow him to get the ball back...the end result is a contested miss 3 point shot by Webber. Poor execution down the stretch. I see this 2 out of every 3 games as a Raptors fan.</div> Exactly, the only lineup I saw in that breakdown was Salmons, Korver, Iggy, Iverson, and Hunter maybe. But I didn`t understand that lineup at all.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting B-22:</div><div class="quote_post">How are you going to give up an uncontested layup like that? Only the Sixers would do something like that. Not to mention the shot they got off at the end. Mo Cheeks what are you thinking? Why would you have your best clutch player inbounding the ball with 2 seconds left?!</div> Amen.
that pic pretty much sums it up. i was pissed as hell at first, and then i remembered, this is the sixers. and if bull**** like that happens, its mostly going to be the sixers
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">Stephen Jackson took about 5 steps on that inbounds play. I'm surprised nobody mentioned that.</div> Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, I really didn't see... I was too busy focusing on the Sixers stinking it up.
i dont know why they had korver in seeing they were up by 1 and needed a defensive stop. korver, as we all know, isnt a good defensive player, so mo has some explaining to do
