The Sixers, in a 102-99 loss to the Jazz in Utah, let one get away.

The emblematic and, appropriately, deciding play came with under 10 seconds left and the wind seemingly at the 7-6′s sails: Lou Williams took an inbound pass at the top of the key with the Sixers down a bucket, drove left, stutter stepped, then blew by Earl Watson for an uncontested layup, but touched it too high off the glass. Game over?  Not quite.

Spencer Hawes, who had been an animal for most of the night, slipped by Gordon Hayward for the o-board and a clean look at the bucket, but put too much on it and it sailed over the rim.

Game, for all intents and purposes – and a missed Lou Williams last second three-pointer – over.

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Anytime one can say “Did you see that Spencer Hawes fast break jam?” then it must have in a good night at the office for the Sixers.  It was much more than a good night though, as they annihilated the Phoenix Suns 103 -83 to get their first win of the year, Wednesday night in the desert.

The 3rd quarter started with a 19-0  run that pushed the Sixers’ lead to 33.  That run included the memorable Hawes’ coast to coast trip after a Suns turnover that ended in his emphatic dunk.   Hawes, who’s been a surprising bright spot through the first two games, nearly earned another double-double as grabbed 11 rebounds while scoring 9 points.

Of course, he had a lot of help from his friends, including Andre Iguodala, whose sparkling all around first half performance propelled the Sixers to a 14 point lead heading into halftime.

 
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As I watched the final shot hoisted by Andre Iguodala clank off the iron (like I’ve seen too many times), I felt almost satisfied by the result of the Sixers season opener against the Portland Trailblazers on Monday.

The Sixers didn’t deserve to win this game from the start of the game, they didn’t deserve to win this game by halftime, and they definitely had no reason to win it by the end.

I am all for stealing wins during the course of a season, but this game in it’s entirety felt like complete dominance by the Portland Trailblazers as the Sixers looked like a team in complete disarray.

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If the Christmas Day slate of NBA action didn’t get your blood pumping for the 76ers season opener tonight, then you should change your name to…well, Scrooge.

By now you’ve read or watched what all the national “experts” have predicted for our Philadelphia 76ers in 2011-12.  Many of them believe that we are in for a replay of the 2010-11 season — make the playoffs; get bounced in the first round.  There are also a few “experts” who are predicting that Philadunkia’s home team will fall flat on its face in this 66-game season and miss the post season.  OUCH. 

But as we all know, national ‘experts” are NOT the best source of information when it comes to the Sixers.  So in an effort to provide educated forecasts on how this year will play out for the Sixers, the scribes here at Philadunkia — people who eat, drink and sleep the 7-6 — have typed up their predictions for 2011-12.  According to the Philadunkia staff, one thing is for sure, the 2011-12 76ers will be exciting to watch.

After the jump…Here we go

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Wednesday afternoon 76ers President Rod Thorn was a call-in guest for “The Mike & Ike Show” on 94WIP.  Thorn was upbeat, seemed confident that the 7-6 are going to have a very good year and to our surprise, was very candid about the Sixers roster.

Rob Ellis was in for Michael Barkann yesterday. Ellis and Ike Reese (The Show’s NBA “head”) did a solid job of peppering Thorn with a variety of Sixers topics including the development of Spencer Hawes, “Big Nik’s” role, the inconsistent play of Mo Speights, why the Sixers didn’t make any moves in the recent NBA “off-season” and potential on-the-court chemistry issues for the Sixers.

Some of the answers Thorn gave made us cringe a little,  but again, overall we were impressed with how honest Thorn was in answering questions from Reese and Ellis. 

We transcribed two of our favorite clips and provide you with a link to the full interview with Collins after the jump.

 
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This season for the 76ers, the buzz-word is “continuity” — which is an interesting word to galvanize your fan base around.  Much less exciting certainly than “talent” or “excitement” or “greatness.”  It’s also an interesting word choice because it’s contingent. 

Continuity relative to what?  If I’m coming off a 60 win season, continuity sounds pretty appealing.  25 wins?  Not so much.  If I won 41 games last season, have scant cap room, bad contracts, and no clear sight line to contention?  Well, you could probably pick a better angle to pitch me on than continuity.

At the Sixers Wednesday afternoon Media Day at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine though, the players themselves didn’t seem to think bringing back the same team was so bad.

 
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Diamonds are a girl’s best friend — unless you are Tawanna Iverson.

According to TMZ Sports, former 76ers legend and future Hall of Famer Allen Iverson went on a significant spending spree after she filed for divorce, leaving her completely penniless.  Allegedly among the purchases “The Answer” made was $20,000 worth of diamond jewelry.  Court documents that Tawanna filed indicated that Allen’s spending habits put their account in the “red” and left her unable to provide for their children.

Also According to TMZ Sports, Allen denies Tawanna’s allegations in the docs (of course) — and they will now head to court to settle the dispute.

One other interesting fact from this story after the jump.

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