I think like like most fans, I was not in a good place before the Sixers vs. Spurs game last. The spanking they took from the Heat in the previous game along with the lackluster trade gave me little confidence against a contender like San Antonio.
But that's the beauty of sports. You never now what could happens in any 1 game. That's why they play the games as the cliché goes. I was encouraged after the first quarter. The Sixers trailed by one 25-26. They were not really stopping them, but they were getting theirs.
The second quarter was more of the same. But they fell further behind. They trailed 52-45 at the half. So you had to wonder how they would respond in the 2nd half.
Die like dogs or MAN up?
Well they decided to MAN up. They stepped up the intensity and then Sammy got tossed after his second technical foul. Sammy's poor decision making is well chronicled, but this was NOT his fault. The Sixers were getting jobbed by the refs. It all changed after that. The Sixers won the quarter by 4.
In the fourth, they just continued to pour it on. It was like the Sixers defense the last few years. The were scratching and clawing. Tips balls ... steals ... run outs ... fastbreak basketball. The Sixers had 38 fast break points! That like 35% of their points. It was contagious ... even Speights was playing crazy straight up D on Tim Duncan. And Lou Williams erased any doubt you had about him (at least for a day). After all it was his Mom's nite "Sixers See Red" to promote heart disease awareness. So it was a fitting performance (20 pts on 7-11 shooting, 1 steal and 2 BLOCKS). The rookie Jrue Holiday also played solid for 44:44 minutes! He was a +/-14 for the nite.
The Spurs were one and done when they were not turning over the ball. It certainly helped that they were on the 7th of 8 road games (their annual rodeo tour). The Sixers have caught them at home in this position before. But who cares. That was an AWSOME game. Sixers 106- Spurs 94. Wonder why the Sixers tend to have these great Friday nite home games like Dallas and the Celtics earlier this season?
BTW, the Spurs, DeJuan Blair is a monster. You could see he would be this kind of player at Pitt last year. I can’t help but think that the Sixers need a space eater like him. He can get after it. Something we lost with Reggie Evans going to Toronto.
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