I would like to have seen Thad grab more than 3 rebounds and have passed up that ill-advised 3PA he launched in the 1st Q, but outside of those two items it was a very good night for #21.  His coast-to-coast for an AND1 in the early third was awesome to watch.  He also scored 4 straight on two different stretches in the 2nd Q.  The steal Thad snatched in the 4th Q was ridiculous.

“The Enigma” strikes again…

That’s 6 double-doubles in the last 11 games for Spencer.  I wasn’t crazy about his 3PA in the 1st Q and his defense on Aldridge for most of the night was not good.  Although it was rock solid on that last POR possession vs. Aldridge.  Overall Spence is playing out of his mind right now so I am not going to complain too much.  I just wish he could have done this all year.

There was a stretch in the early to mid 4th Q where I thought Jrue lost his mind while launching ill-advised 3PAs early in the shot clock, but overall a great night for “The Jruth”.  He recovered to score 11 points in the 4th including a huge leaner in the closing minutes that put the Sixers up 5.

Did you ever think the Sixers would receive this much production from Damien Wilkins?

What else do want a guy to do with 9 mins of burn?  Moultrie had a nice dive to the rim that he turned into 2 FTs, but unfortunately there’s not much else to write about.

Wright scored 12 points in 14 mins. during the first half and then lost his stroke.  He ended with 16 points on 14 FGAs which is not an efficient scoring night.  However, I’ll give Wright credit for grabbing some key boards as well as getting to the FT line and knocking ‘em down.

2 points and 3 rips (1 big OReb) in 5 mins…well done Lavoy.

Anyways…

I wonder if the docs who are working on Bynum’s knees on Tuesday can put a heart in this stiff?

I have to assume that DC has tweaked the offense to push the rock a little more often and work the ball from the inside on more half-court trips.  Unfortunately the changes have come too late and now the wins are killing us.  I also really liked that he did not double Aldridge on that last Blazers possession.

Thad always plays with incredible heart and hustle.  If he doesn’t receive at least an A- nightly, something went terribly wrong.  Tonight, the prototypical small-ball PF was extremely efficient from the field and played great D on David West.  But he shouldn’t play 37 minutes at this point in the year, Doug.  Give some of that burn to Moultrie!

Evan put together a decent night of his own against a team that should have provided a tough match-up for him: lengthy and athletic perimeter players.  It’s a positive sign that he only shot the ball 11 times, but he should have converted more of them.

Wow.  After blanking a crucial layup in his last time out against the Heat, the big ole’ stiff comes out and delivers a near quadruple-double!  He even made contact on a few screens and rolled to the basket!  And, he embarrassed Roy Hibbert!  Wow.  Just, wow.

Jrue played like an all-star this evening.  And, of his 3 turnovers tonight, two came when he was arguably fouled in the 4th Quarter.  He could have shot a much better percentage overall, but he straight carried this team to a triumphant victory.

Damien Wilkins should not be playing 19 more minutes than Arnett Moultire and Charles Jenkins combined at this point in the season.  He shouldn’t.  ‘Nique’s nephew is shooting 43% from the field this year.  Why is he playing over two young guys who might actually be able to contribute to your rotation for the next five seasons?

You’re the man, Arnett! Keep fighting hard for rebounds!  Keep blocking shots!  Keep running the floor! Keep smiling on the bench like you’re not pissed about playing behind Damien Wilkins!  Maybe, just maybe, one day you’ll have a coach that recognizes your potential and how it would be very beneficial to give you some playing time.

Dorell Wright took the form of a quality wing perimeter player that he can be with regular minutes this evening.  Over the team’s last five games, Wright is playing 23.0 minutes and scoring 14.2 points per contest. Why couldn’t he have gotten to this consistent run earlier in the season?

Eh.  Lavoy is what he is.  16 minutes is a good number for him and 4 points and 3 rebounds is a solid contribution.  But he was just another face in the crowd, tonight.

Unfortunately for Charles, Collins refuses to acknowledge this guy is the second-leading scorer in Colonial Athletic Association history behind only David “The Admiral” Robinson.  Give this kid an opportunity to prove himself!

Again, only a few more games before Kwame Brown becomes, “Kwame Brown’s expiring contract” That’s worth some trade value, right?

It’s not his fault he’s really irrelevant at this point in the season for this particular team, right?

Who?

At least Swaggy looks swaggy on the bench.

DC did a good job of coaching tonight to win this game.  He played the hot hands, he left units in that went on big runs.  He even made key substitutions in a few situations.  However, he gave Moultrie and Jenkins 14 minutes, combined.  Their are 240 minutes to divide amongst a roster in an NBA game. They got 14. Come on, Doug!

Yes he could have grabbed a few more rebounds, but overall another tremendous performance for Thad.  His loose ball, dive on the floor steal in the late 2nd Q was just another example of how important his energy and hustle are to this team.

The slump continues for “The Enigma”…Turner is now 15-52 (28%) in his last 4 games.

A very respectable effort from Hawes and his new haircut last night. He got off to a quick start by scoring 8 in the 1st Q.  That led to 13 & 7 in the 1st half and a double-double on the night.  However, outside of an ill-advised 3PA in the 3rd Q Hawes was invisible in the 2nd half of this game. That can’t happen if you are going to win on the road, especially in Miami.

Jrue’s shooting woes continue, but I have to say that he did a nice job of not forcing things last night.  A lot of primary options would have hoisted up 20 FGAs trying to shoot their way out of the slump. Instead he got others involved and picked his spots to get shots.  His 5 points were key to the run the 7-6 made in the early 3rd.  Still he’s got to get his stroke going again.

Outside of one filthy crossover and hoop in the 3rd Q he did not capitalize on his first start.

Moultrie did a nice job of keeping the ball alive on the O-glass on several trips.  He also may be the only Sixer who actually boxes his guy out when the ball goes up.  However, he is still struggling on the defensive end and the play where lost “Birdman” on pick-and-roll that turned into a reverse alley-oop was embarrassing.

Wright’s offense was a key part of the Sixers ability to stay in this game, but it came in one quick flurry.  He had a tip-in and two 3PM (9 straight points overall) at the end of the 3rd Q which was exciting to watch, but where was he the rest of the game?

Offensively, Ivey did all I can ask of him.  However, it was mentioned in the TV broadcast that the reason he didn’t start was because Collins wanted Ivey to guard Ray Allen.  That didn’t work out so well…Allen scored 5 straight at the end of the 1st Q and 12 overall on 5-8 shooting.

Wilkins stretch of solid play continues.  Although I would like to have seen him challenge Ray Allen a little better on that FB dunk Allen threw down.  So the question for me is at what point does Collins start this guy?

It’s official, Lavoy has entered the Do(u)ghouse.

At least he got to work on his tan down in South Beach.

What has Pargo done wrong that Charles Jenkins is getting the start over him?

I liked that the Sixers got off to a fast start in this one.  I also liked the effort and tenacity the team showed all night.  Collins deserves some credit for those items.  I did not like that he started Jenkins over Pargo.  I also didn’t like that Moultrie saw only 15 mins. of burn.  And having Holiday on the bench during the start of the 4th Q in this game was simply stupid (IMO).

How does a guy who just missed 3 weeks of action and is still rounding into “game shape” turn out to be the second best player on the floor for the Sixers?  It’s Thad…that’s how.

After a six game stretch of decent play, the enigma that is ET took a nose dive tonight.  I did like that he got to the FT line 10 times, but Herb Magee should be embarrassed that Turner is one of his projects.

Remind me why didn’t we trade this stiff at the deadline?  1 rebound…ONE

Jrue nearly posted a double-double tonight, but he did not seem like himself.  I didn’t see that ORL did anything special to take Holiday out of the game but Jrue didn’t score his 1st bucket until the 1st Q buzzer and he really never got going tonight.  Still, 10 dimes and only 1 turnover has a nice ring to it

Swaggy P has left the building…

He scored 2 straight buckets for the Sixers to open the 3rd Q and that was his night.  On defense he provided nothing.

In 6 mins he grabbed the same number of rebounds as Hawes.  So by Sixers standards, Moultrie should get an extension right now.

I’m still waiting for this “sharpshooter” to get on track from deep.

Hello, nice to meet you

His defense was suspect but outside of that I have no issues with the way Pargo played tonight.

Okay…Ivey earned his paycheck tonight

Wilkins was one of the few Sixers who brought the energy and effort tonight.  DW looked like a true Wilkins family member with the FB dunk he threw down and then the alley-oop he caught in the 1st half.

How about the mad dash DC made to the locker room before the final horn even sounded!?!  Way to stand by your guys coach.  In the post game presser he cited that he didn’t know there was going to be a shot clock violation called on ORL at the end of the game as the reason for his early exit.  BS. What the hell is he saying at half that the Sixers start the 3rd Qs so poorly.