My beloved Clippers buried

In the entry below you can read why Clippers are “beloved”. 

In this one you will read why last night’s Sixers were a no match for them, and how the final 101-80 score tells the absolute truth, for once.

Another truth is that at 21-30 (.412) and after the third consecutive win, Sixers are, tied with Indiana, 1/2 game below the “dangerous” 8th spot that would mean playoffs: Nets are there at 21-29.

Clippers were on the second night of a back-to-back, after Friday’s nice win at Toronto, and offered little resistence to a fast, athletic, always running Sixers team that trailed only for 20 seconds (2-4 in the first).

I’ll keep the recap very short because, really, the game was never in question.

In the FIRST QUARTER Sixers scored on eight consecutive possessions and knocked down 9 of their first 11 shots (with an inspired Andre Miller – a former Clipper but not exactly missed in LA… –  going 4/4). The spectacular dunk by Willie Green that you see in the picture marked a 26-17 Sixers lead, but at the end it was 29-25. Sixers shot 13/17 (77% !!) and Miller had 10 points and 4 dimes in the quarter, while Maggette had 10 and Mobley 9 on the other side.

In the SECOND QUARTER it was Lou Williams taking over, with 11 points. Sixers were running and flying all around the court, Carney hit a three and closed one of the numerous fastbreaks, ignited by Iguodala’s block on Maggette, to make it 48-33. Clippers struggled (and I’m being nice) under the boards and had absolutely no production from their bench, with Powell piling up embarassing mistakes.

Dalembert dominated Kaman defensively and found many ways to do some damage also on their half court, hitting 4/4 from the line. It was 59-40 at the break, then.

HALF TIME STATS backed Sixers’ total supremacy up: 23-10 rebounding edge, 22-3 bench points, 18-6 fastbreak points, 32-18 points in the paint, 5-0 in blocks. Sixers shot 22/37 (59%) and Clippers 16/38 (38%). Sixers’ offence was also very balanced: Lou Williams 11 points, Miller and Dalembert 10, Iguodala 9, Willie Green 7.

Recapping the second half would be really a waste of typing: Sixers were pretty much always in control, continuing to run whenever it was possible. The best two plays came with Iguodala scoring on a tough drive while drawing a hard foul by Maggette, and Dalembert blocking a ”shy hook” (LOL) by Kaman. The final 29-10 fastbreak point stats says it all.

So what was good in this win?

1) aggressive defense, with Sixers getting many steals or pushing Clippers to many turnovers, shot clock violations, forced/last second shots. Everybody contributed to put a lot of pressure on his opponent.

2) that aggressive defense obviously translated into many easy points on transition, and given our well known troubles versus set up defenses, this is the only way for us to put some points on the scoreboard.

3) free throw shooting was excellent, finally: 18/21 with Iguodala having two of those 3 misses.

4) Andre Miller and Lou Williams had strong games, our back court mercilessly outplayed Cassell and Brevin Knight, that looked totally washed up: a combined 6 points on 2/8 from the field for Clippers’ point guards, 35 points on 12/19 for our guys, you do the maths.

Sixers play host to the Mavericks on Monday, will the streak continue? For sure the confidence is growing and you could see it by all the smiles on the bench. Nice.

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Don’t worry, I didn’t mention Thaddeus Young yet but he was very good again – Andre Miller took good care of the ball, his 9/1 assists/turnover ratio is Calderonesque – Al Thorton had a nice game stat wise but he looked lost at times. He seems a solid player but I wouldn’t trade him for Thad, honestly – Gordan Giricek managed to commit his usual travel violation on his first possession in garbage time – At a point in the second quarter Reggie Evans was all alone under the rim and shout out loud to get the ball: Kevin Ollie assisted him for a layup while Clippers defense was still sleeping – Clippers coverage on Clips Nation and Clipperblog.  

About these ads