SIXERS NEWS

The Sixer's traveled to Milwaukee tonight for a matchup with the Bucks as they looked to get back in the winner's column, following that tough loss to the Pacers in their last game. The last time these two teams met the Sixer's got the win, as part of a run of 6 straight wins over Milwaukee. There was no reason tonight couldn't be their 7th in a row, but they would have to bring the defense with them that had won them 2 of their last 3. Unfortunately, while they did bring the D, holding the Bucks to just 43% shooting from the field and outrebounding them 51-35, they also brought along a bunch of sloppy mistakes with them as well and it cost them. In the 1st half alone they turned the ball over 11 times, turning what should have been a halftime lead into a 2 point halftime deficit. They then cleaned up a bit in the 2nd half with only another 6 turnovers, but went cold from the field, particularly beyond the arc, where they hit just 2-14(that's 14% shooting from beyond).

Thus, Milwaukee was able to stay ahead going into the 4th quarter and with the Sixers' missing one three pointer after another, and unable to find any consistent enough scoring, they hung on to win a close one, 91-88. As usual the Sixer's just couldn't hit the baskets at the end when they needed to and no one really stepped up to do so. In fact the Sixers had only 2 players score in double figures on the night. Elton Brand had 26 and 10 rebounds and Thad Young had 14 off the bench, but other than that there wasn't much to celebrate for the Sixer's scoring wise. So while a little defense can go a long way it is not always enough. You have to be able to put some points at times too.

Looking at the final score you can see that if the Sixers had hit just 2 more of the 14 three pointers they took they would have won. The Sixer's are not known for their 3 point shooting, but even for them 2 out of 14 is pretty bad and they'll have to improve that number if they want to get a few more wins this season. Currently with the loss, the Sixers are just 16-30 overall. That's right they have already lost 30 games this season and it isn't even the all-star break yet. Aren't you proud of them? Anyway, at this point the Sixers are now 7.5 games out of 8th in the East so the playoffs may finally be out of reach now, as if they weren't already.