SIXERS NEWS

No Dwight Howard and no Courtney Lee was no problem for the Orlando Magic tonight in game 6 of the Sixers' opening playoff series. J.J Redick drilled 5 threes, and Marjun Gortat had 11 and 15 rebounds to offset the absences of Howard and Lee. The Meanwhile the Sixers stumbled and sleepwalked through the entire night. Perhaps they just couldn't get up for it without the prospect of facing Howard, or maybe they just had nothing left to give. Whatever the reason, the defense wasn't there for the Sixers as Orlando hit 12 threes and shot 53% from the field. Meanwhile, offensively it was a nightmare game for the Sixers. Somehow with no Howard patrolling the paint Orlando managed to goad the Sixers into chucking 20 three pointers, which isn't their game at all. It was thought that they would use Howard's absence to drive to the basket and either get to the foul line or get easy layups. Inexplicably, they never really did and the result was one of the most painful season ending games you could ever see. The Sixers simply appeared dazed and confused all night long, and never found any energy. Despite that, their most energetic player off the bench, Reggie Evans, somehow never got in the game. It was as if Dileo forgot he was there. Perhaps if Evans had gotten some minutes, the Sixers energy level might have gone up before too late in the game and the defense might have locked down the magic in enough time to mount a comeback. Instead the Sixers sleapwalked through the game before eventually losing by the embarrassing final score 114-89. So the Sixers get a whole off season now to think about how badly they played tonight and what might have been. No matter, they'll be back in business next season with a healthy Elton Brand and Jason Smith in the lineup. Hopefully then they won't have to face this indignity for a 3 season in a row.