The veteran tore down five offensive rebounds, and though he might not have been able to swing that with Noah on the floor rather than on the bench in a boot, damn near every one of them was enormous.  I love this guy. I really do.

Iguodala was smack dab in the middle of everything good that happened to the Sixers on Sunday.  Yeah, the double-double was nice–or, I don’t know, awesome–but so was this: the way Iguodala jump started fast-break after fast-break.  He didn’t look for his own shot, but he dictated the pace. We’ll take it.

Spence was just brilliant in the first half.  The corner 3 he buried as time expired gave him 17 points at the break, which — for those of you kids scoring at home — matches his regular season high.  SH has now scored 20+ in two straight games, after scoring 20+ exactly zero times in the last two regular seasons.  That, ladies and germs, is called stepping up.

His shot wasn’t falling early and, unlike the gentlemen below, it wasn’t falling late either.

It was a tale of two halves for Jrue.  After shooting a brutal 1-for-13 in the first half, then missing his first shot of the third period, Holiday cam alive: hitting six of his final nine, including two dagger-style 3-pointers back to back in the fourth.  He, via Elias, is the first 76er since Sir Charles to score 20 points with 8 rebounds and 6 assists and 3 or fewer turnovers in a playoff game.  Good company.

Not his strongest effort.

Offensively, Thad has been strangely passive in this series.  Granted, the only position where the Bulls haven’t been dope-slapped by the injuries is the 4, but still.  We’d like to see more.

Meh.

*Crickets*

Sir Elton did most of his damage early — scoring 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first quarter — but slowed down after that.  In the 1st Q the Sixers ran numerous iso plays for Elton in the post and he still settled for jumpers (but made them) every time.

Iguodala was great tonight.  He was aggressive offensively for the second straight game (he’s one of the only black guys old white people criticize for not being aggressive enough), and nabbed a season high in rebounds.

After a mini-resurgence, Big Nic’s now been a negligible contributor for four games running. Something tells me his wildly fluctuating minutes/responsibilities are playing a role in this.  Whaddya think, Doug?

If you don’t have anything nice to say, you really shouldn’t say anything at all…

Sweet sassy molassy did he have a third quarter.  He scored 19 points (NINETEEN!), went 5-of-5 from beyond the arc (FIVE-OF-FIVE!), and still found time in his busy schedule to dish out four dimes.  Did I mention he did all this in the third?  Like, in 12 minutes?

The Cavs were keyed in on Lou defensively, and to his credit, he recognized this and didn’t force anything.  See: his assists.

I didn’t realize he played, but I’m happy for him.

Thad had that hook shot going tonight.  When he does, I don’t envy the guys defending him.

Spence was economical tonight.  He turned five shots into eight points, and just turned the basketball over once.  That stuff helps.

The Temple Owl and fan favorite tied his season high in minutes tonight, and did a few things that made me smile.  One sequence in particular — a first period run when he got a bucket, then blocked a shot into the stands back-to-back — is what I’ll choose to remember from this one.  Like I said, he’s a fan favorite and I’m a fan.

ET was solid if unspectacular and…you know, I just typed that because I had nothing else to say.  He didn’t really do anything that caught my attention, though he didn’t make me seethe with anger tonight either.  So…good game?

He was active, but where was he while Quentin and Jason Richardson combined for 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting?  Or, I don’t know, while the entire Orlando team shot 53.3 percent from the floor and 63.1 percent from 3?

In his first start of the season, Thad was efficient and productive on the offensive end.  Defensively, where his charge was Ryan Anderson, Young fell flat on his face.  The NBA’s top three point shooter put up 26 points and grabbed eight offensive rebounds.

Doug Collins went small tonight, starting Brand at center, and presumably expecting substantial production on the glass from the veteran.  He didn’t get it.  Though EB wasn’t otherwise awful, he did get turnstiled pretty badly by Earl Clark.

There is no reason, none, that Jodie Meeks should start and play 31 minutes in a professional basketball game.  In a recession economy, fans shouldn’t have to pay to see that.

Jrue’s finals numbers look nice, but here’s what they miss: he started out like gangbusters–he had something like 12 points, three assists, a pair of steals and a block in the first quarter — but disappeared for the most part after that.  He has a disconcerting habit of doing that.

Lou did his damnedest to shoot the Sixers back into this one down the stretch — even answering a Jameer Nelson 3 with one of his own to get the 7-6 to within 104-97 with just under three minutes left– but it was too much, too little, too late.

I liked what Spence did as a distributor tonight — his nine assists set a new career high — but was concerned by his lack of aggression around the basket and his inability to stop Earl Clark and Co. from steamrolling the Sixers on the glass.  You’re seven-feet-plus man, do something with it.

The final numbers look decent, but you can’t shake the sense that Turner is shrinking as this long, strange season winds down.

Another very solid night for the Ol’ Chevy who has displayed more energy of late.

Started the game 0-3…Hey at least he put up a shot in the 1st quarter vs. TOR.  That’s not something you can say happens every night. 

A fast start — six 1st Q points led to a very nice game from “Big Nik”.  The kid keeps starting for the rest of the season in my opinion.  We may also be looking at the 7-6 starting center for 2012-13.

Enough already.  I’d rather see Sam Young get these minutes.  How on earth did this clown get two rotations into the game during the 3rd Q?  Meeks must have some serious blackmail dirt on Collins that coach keeps trotting him out there.

He had 4 points in the 1st Q, so we though we would see bigger scoring numbers out of Jrue last night.  We didn’t, so that was disappointing. However, the rest of his game and his defense were right on point.

LW still looks tired to me, but a decent night anyhow.  The dime he had to Hawes in the post during the late 3rd was simply a great pass and one he would not have made two years ago.

Needs more minutes down the stretch so that the other wings are not exhausted come playoff time.

What is left to say about Thad’s stellar play in 90% of the Sixers games this season?  Not much, but we’ll give it a try.  The Toronto shot attempt he pinned on the glass @ the 7:45 mark of the 4th was a ridiculous play.

When combined with Vuc’s numbers (12 & 5) you get one very solid center.  Hawes did a great job of taking the ball to the bucket last night and not settling for long J’s.

Better, but still lacking something.  Of course more minutes and a vote of confidence from Coach would solve a lot of his issues.  The drive and dish he dropped to Thad in the 4th for an AND 1 was encouraging

The Old Chevy didn’t look so old on his second half drive to slam on the former Mr. Kim Kardashian. Age is just a number and athleticism is just a …well, it would be nice if he still had some athleticism.

The number are unspectacular, but he had a pair of dunks that were.  Iguodala threw down one rafter-rattler off a second period alley-oop from Thad Young and the other, an even more impressive solo job off a strong drive to the basket, a few minutes later.  They galvanized a team in desperate need of a swift kick to the rear end.  Still, we’d like to see him be more aggressive in the early going — Dre had zero FGAs in the 1st Q.

Vucevic got the start and was, in limited minutes, outstanding on the glass.  Couple his numbers with Spencer Hawes’ (23 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks) and you get one fine center.

Jodie Meeks translated his starting opportunity into…well, not a whole lot.  He came out of the gate 0-3 on 3PAs and missed an easy layin during the 3rd Q.  Capt. Streaky rides again.

Jrue started hot, again — scoring 7 of the Sixers first 9 points — and fizzled late. He was sound all night on Deron Williams though, who scored only 14 on 12 FGAs after scorching the 7-6 for 34 on Jan. 25th.

With seconds left in the first half, Sweet Lou took an inbound pass, weaved his way down the court, and banged a three that beat the buzzer by a whisker to give the Sixers a 52-43 halftime lead.  He was like that pretty much all night.

Thad was a bad, bad man tonight.  The Nets just don’t have anyone on payroll who can do a thing to even slow him down.

Where the f**k did this come from?  Coming off the bench for the first time this deeply weird season, Spence scored a season high 19 points, and did a little bit of everything.  You like three pointers?  He hit one.  You like two-handed slams?  He’s got you covered. You like interior presence?  He had three blocks.  You like wispy goatees?  Me neither.

Evan Turner just looks like he has no idea what he’s doing out there.  It’s like watching a kid play soccer who would rather be doing anything but playing soccer.  However his thread-the-needle pass to Hawes at the end of the 1st Q was simply ridiculous.