Throughout this game I found myself bouncing between being thrilled with ET’s play and wanting to strangle him.  He hauled 42 solid minutes at the point, posted a double-double and I liked the way he responded after he got T’d up.  On the other side of things, he had 5 turnovers (including a killer one with 1 minute left in the gm), should never had gotten the T in the first place, his defense was suspect and I didn’t think he did a great job of getting others involved.

A tough night for Thad as he had major match-up problems on the defensive end.  Still, his steal and dime to Turner in the 2nd Q was sick.  He also kept the Sixers in this one with 10 & 6; 2 steals and 2 blocks in the 1st half.

Obviously I am grading Kwame on a severe curve here, but this was the best basketball we have seen from him all year (That’s not saying much).  To open the 2nd half, he executed a nice pick-n-roll that led to 2 FTs.  His pump fake, drive and slam in the 3rd Q was awesome.  However if you think back to the 2nd Q, he also dropped a sweet behind the back pass from Hawes on which he was wide open and would have scored easily.  Lastly, in 21 mins. of play he grabbed 1 rebound.  That’s right 1.  Sad.

Again he’s here to do two things — provide veteran leadership and hit open jumpers.  Last night he did not hit those J’s.

Not sure why he got the demotion to the bench, but he did a nice job overall last night.

Overall, I really liked what I saw from Wright last night, but he did miss several WIDE OPEN jumpers last night and had 2 TOs in the 4th that were brutal.

Hawes had a very nice night and posted a season high 18 points.  His FG at the 1st half buzzer was a momentum changer for the Sixers.  He also had several other clutch FGs for the 7-6 and a sweet behind the back pass to Kwame in the 2nd Q, but the fact that he only grabbed 3 rebs in 24 minutes just kills me.

A short and brutal stint in the 4th Q may bury Wayns in the Do(u)g-house.

He grabbed the same number of rebounds as Kwame in roughly 1/5th of the minutes.

REALLY?!?  We get killed on the boards in the 2nd half and DC can’t find a way to get this kid in the game.  C’mon man.

Lavoy had a very solid night on the boards, especially considering the front line he was up against.  He threw in 2 blks for good measure.

A big 1st Q for Thad included a an amazing rejection of a Boozer shot.  However, Thad had some issues with guarding Noah (To be expected) and his missed FTs ripped my heart out.

A decent all around night by ET and I love the direction his is headed in overall, but IMO Turner has fallen in love with his own game and it is costing the Sixers at times.  Specifically with regards to last night’s game, he forced and missed two ill-advised mid range runners in the 4th Q.

Jrue was one quarter away from possibly having his best game of the year.  Unfortunately the Q he went MIA in was the all important 4th Q.  During that stanza Jrue was 1-4 on FGAs, 0-2 on FTAs and had 2 turnovers.  Still he came out on fire in the 1st Q (8-2-2); in the 3rd Q he dropped a dime to Turner on the fast break that was ridiculous; he got into the lane at will (as planned vs. Nate Robinson); and killed it on the pick-n-rolls.  FYI…Holiday is 4 for his last 24 from behind the arc.

Not a good night for J-Rich. Obviously he struggled with his shot and the 3PA he took and missed with 1 minute remaining in the game was a terrible decision.  But more depressing for me was the way Belinelli carved him up on the defensive end.

A solid 4 minute run by Moultire. Now let’s triple those minutes and see what this kid can do for us.

The Do(u)g-house is a lonely place.

My only issue in what was otherwise a very good night for Spencer is his 3-point shooting.  We have enough long range gunners on this squad, I don’t want my 7-footer launching from behind the arc.  The one he shot in the 4th Q with the game at 78-77, nearly killed me.  I thought he was especially active on the boards vs. CHI, which makes me wonder why he can’t play like that on a nightly basis.

It was a hell of a 1 minute…With the pace of the 2nd half falling right into the tired Bulls hands last night I would have put Wayns in the game to see if he could push a more favorable tempo for the Sixers.  But I’m crazy like that…

He has one job — make shots.  Last night he did an okay job of that and that’s all I have to say here.

That’s four straight DNP-CD’s for Kwame. $2 million well spent.

Allen, who’s sneakily been a force on the boards of late (he had 43 in his last five games coming in) continued his strong interior play on Monday; grabbing five rebounds with a pair of blocks in limited minutes.

Though in the digital age there are surely better options available, in a pinch, you could set your watch to Thad Young.  Despite banging with bigger bodies night in and night out (insert your own joke about your college roommate), Young’s been the most consistent Sixer in the season’s first 21 games. He was awesome on Monday.  His eight third quarter points were, almost invariably, of the “Piston Rally Quashing” kind.

The “Evan Turner is getting better” narrative continues to gain steam.  Turner isn’t really great at anything, which is unfortunate, because it obscures the fact that he’s pretty good at everything.  The jack of all trades posted an 18/11/7 line against a single turnover.  Ants are specialists.  ET is a basketball player.

Jrue rebounded from a slow start to play what might have been his best half of the season in the second frame, scoring 21 after the break — including 12 in the fourth — to keep the Sixers afloat when they sprang leaks.

This is what Jason Richardson does.  Pair of threes?  Check.  YMCA/playground/general backyard style veteraness?  Check.  Weird that he’s, up to this point, arguably been the biggest difference maker of all the players that traded hands on August 10. (This is almost certainly not true.  Still.)

Doug Collins: Give Dorell Wright more minutes. Seriously.

The last time Spencer Hawes was not terrible was on November 18, so his not being terrible tonight was a very pleasant surprise.  And the jump shot he hit in the waning seconds of the third quarter to reclaim the lead for the Sixers: very pleasant indeed.

Swaggy, back in action, was unusually passive tonight.  It was kind of…nice?

A very solid night from Lavoy (near double-double). I especially loved the pick-n-roll he scored on in the 3rd Q. He also dropped a sweet dime to Thad during the 4th. But for some reason KG seems to have figured Lavoy out, so now it’s Lavoy’s turn to adjust and get back to being Garnett’s kryptonite.

A slow start (2-8 on FGAs) led to not the most efficient offensive night by Thad, but he had some huge moments in this game and racked up a double-double.  His follow slam in the 2nd Q was awesome.  He also scored 4 straight points in OT and grabbed a key OREB in the extra session.

Yeah, I know he had 26 & 10.  And yeah, I know he hit the “game winner” in OT on a great hustle play. But I also know that he scored 26 points on an inefficient 26 shots and was (by my count) 2-11 on FGAs in the 4th Q and OT. He also had a totally bonehead play / TO at the end of regulation that nearly cost the 7-6 the game.  Finally, he got absolutely abused by Pierce on several trips down the floor.

A roller coaster night for Holiday that featured some poor shooting and interesting decisions on defense.  However, IMO his AND 1 at the end of the 1st half was a huge part of the Sixers finding their groove in this game. He also bailed the Sixers out with a huge jumper at the 2:30 mark of the 4th.

Given his horrific shooting night, I have no idea how he scored 13 points, but I liked his defense and he hauled an amazing 42 minutes last night which is a lot for a veteran like J-Rich.

DC gave him an opportunity and he did okay, but apparently not well enough to see minutes in the 2nd half.

It will be back to the Doug-house for Wright.

Spence’s best game since opening night.  He provided a huge lift off the bench for the 7-6 last night and his energy in the 3rd Q was a key to the run the Sixers made that got them in this game and eventually got them the lead.  Great block by him at the end of the 3rd!!!

Solid night by DW and I actually wish DC would have put him on Pierce a little more over the course of the game. He has a physical presence the other guards on the Sixers just don’t own.  Maybe he could have worn Pierce out some.  But his two missed FTAs in the late 3rd Q nearly killed me.

Seriously…He’s a $2million paper weight.  But I hear he is a great locker room guy. 

Is there any chance the ultra quick Wayns could have slowed down Rondo just a little?  I guess we will never know.