The Sixers traveled to Dallas tonight for a matchup with the Mavericks. They were hoping to avoid a 7th straight loss overall and 5th straight at Dallas. As usual they put forth a strong effort, fighting to stay with the hot shooting Mavs all night long, until they could put together another late rally which alas, fell short again. Elton Brand returned from his hamstring injury finally, and was superb with 21 and 10 rebounds, despite enjoying only a limited 24 minutes off the bench, but once he got in the game the Sixers almost couldn't take him out. Aside from Brand, Andre Iguodala had a nice night with 19 points, Willie Green got the start again at shooting guard and pumped in 23 and 8 rebounds, Thad Young added 21 and 7 rebounds, and Sammy Dalembert was large defensively, with 19 rebounds and 3 blocks. In fact the Sixers dominated the boards on the night 60-37. On the other hand they had just one other block beside's Sammy's 3 and allowed the Mavs far too many open looks. Dallas took advantage of the open to hit 10 treys, and keep the Sixer's at arms lenght most of the night. With about 5 minutes to play the Sixers finally managed to string together some defensive stops, allowing to cut into the lead, until Andre Iguodala hit a three pointer with 5 seconds to play to pull the Sixers even 102 all. Jason Terry then broke the Sixer's hearts on the next Dallas possession, as he somehow drained a 17 footer with a little over a 2nd to play. I mean Willie Green could not have defended Terry any better and he still drained it. I guess sometimes it is just not your day. Anyway the Sixers got one last chance to tie or go ahead on the final posses ion of the game, but Andre Iguodala's attempt a game winning 3 pointer, seemed to come up short, although Sammi tried unsuccessfully to guide it in. So the Sixers fell 104-102 for their 7th straight lost, but at 5-13 overall the Sixers are still within range for a turnaround as they sit just 3 games out of 8th in the East.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds welcomed the Washington Redskins to the Linc this afternoon. At 3-7 overall and winless on the road coming in the Skins should have been easy pickins for the Birds. Instead they put up a strong effort and forced the Eagles to dig deep in the 4th quarter for the win. Offensively, the Birds were fine with a balanced 381 yards(123 rushing, 258 passing). Donovan Mcnabb had a nice game, throwing for 260 yards and a TD, Jason Avant had 5 catches for 94 yards, and Lesean McCoy rushed 17 times for 76 yards to lead the way. The defense on the other hand was a problem for the Birds. Asante Samuel intercepted two Jason Campbell passes, and Trent Cole was his usual dominant self, with a sack, 3 tackles and countless times pressuring Campbell. However, Washington's normally futile offense piled up over 300 yards and 24 points, which is just embarrassing for the Eagle's defense. They just can't keep allowing that every week and expect to get away with it. Anyway the Redskins had the momentum early as the Eagles botched an onsides kick attempt to start the game, and gave Washington the ball at the Eagle's 19. Just a few plays later it was 7-0 Skins. Thanks to a 35 yd td pass from Mcnabb to Desean Jackson the Birds rallied ahead 10-7 by the end of the 1st quarter. Washington came back with an 80 yard 2nd quarter TD drive, with Campbell firing a 4 yd TD pass to Santana Moss for a 14-10 lead. Asante Samuel then intercepted Campbell on the Skins final 1 drives of the half, to set up 2 David Aker's field goals and put the Birds up 16-14 at the half. Washington came back with yet another 80+ yard drive to open their 2nd half with Campbell tossing a 10 yd TD pass to Fred Davis for a 21-16 lead. Later Mcnabb was hit as he threw and intercepted deep in Eagles' territory to set up a Redskins' field goal and 24-16 lead heading into the 4th quarter. There with a little over 10 minutes remaining the Eagles drove 90 yards, with Eldra Bunkley running it in from a yard out to cut the lead to 24-22. Then Lesean McCoy took a shovel pass, ran into his own line and then somehow stayed up right just long enough to get in the end zone for the 2 point conversion and the 24-24 tie. Washington did nothing on their next drive and the Eagles were drive into range for an Aker's field goal and a 27-24 lead with under 2 minutes to play. The Skins then went 3 and out on their next series to finish off the Eagle win. So the Eagles move to 7-4 overall and are now in good position to at least claim a wild card spot for the 2nd year in a row.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers traveled to San Antonio tonight for a matchup with the Spurs. Having lost 5 in a row, the Sixers desperately needed a win, but coming in they had won just once in San Antonio since the 1985-86 season, so the losing streak didn't figure to end here. Still the Sixers played hard and kept close until the end just as they have been, with Andre Iguodala's 21 points, 7 assists, and 8 rebounds leading the way. Thad Young added 16, Sammy D posted a mammoth 14 and 14 rebounds and Willie Green, who started at shooting guard(Iggy moved over to forward for tonight), provided 17. Unfortunately, outside of those 4 the Sixer's shooting was cold, at a combined 39% from the field. Defensively, the Sixers were solid tonight blocking 10 shots, and producing 17 Spur turnovers, including 12 steals. Unforunately, the Spurs still shot 48% from the field and hit 10 threes, which really hurt, especially in the 2nd quarter where they outscored the Sixers by 7 to jump to a 9 point halftime lead. The Sixers hung tough and were still within 10 after 3 quarters. At one point in the 4th quarter they even pulled within 7 before finally succumbing to Antonio by 8 with the final score 97-89. Once again without Lou and Elton the Sixers just didn't have enough down the stretch and they drop their 6th in a row to fall to 5-12 overall, but they're still just 2.5 games out of 8th in the East.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers went back on the road tonight as they traveled to Atlanta for a matchup with the Thrashers. Having lost 4 of their last 5 the Flyers really needed to win this one to try to get back on track and avoid losing their 2dn in a row. Brian Boucher got the start in goal and was great again as was the Flyer's defense, as he saved 17 of the measly 18 shots he faced. Unfortunately, for the Orange and Black, Johan Hedberg was a just a little better for the Thrashers as he blanked the Flyers despite facing 34 shots to the 18 Boucher faced. So although they tough defense and were even on faceoffs the Flyers just couldn't figure out how to score once again. They had plenty of opportunities with 4 power plays and various other scoring chances and just couldn't make it happen for whatever reason. Danny Briere did sit out for another game with the flu and the Flyer's were still without Simon Gagne, Daroll Powe, Blair Betts, the rookie Jared Ross. Perhaps that was just a little too much to overcome for tonight anyway. Whatever the reason they need go figure it out and refocus fast before they fall any further.
Friday, November 27, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers welcomed the Atlanta Hawks to the Wachovia center as they looked to snap their current 4 game losing streak. Once again Lou Williams and Elton Brand were not able to suit up, leaving Jason Smith and Jrue Holiday in the starting lineup. Mike Bibby took advantage of Holiday's presence in the lineup, torching the rookie for 21 points, including 5 threes. As hole though the Hawks to proved to have to much firepower for the Sixers handle, as they shot 51% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. The Sixers were aslo outrebounded by 10, 42-32, despite an 8 rebound 6 block night out Sammy Dalembert, so it was a tough night all round for them. Still, with 8 threes on the night and decent 44% shooting from the field and beyond the arc, the Sixers were able to hang with the Hawks for a few quarters, as they trailed by only 3 after the 1st, quarter, 5 at the half, and only 9 after 3 quarters. Finally in the 4th quarter Atlanta pulled ahead by double digits annd never looked back easily rolling to a 14 pint, 100-86 victory, the 5th loss in a row for the Sixers who drop to 5-11 overall. Despite all that the Sixers are still only 2 games out of 8th in the Eastern conference and that' s something to be positive about at least. If they want to get out of slump though, Holiday and the defense will have to play much betteer, because right now they're just not getting enough stops to win games.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers finally returned from their road trp this afternoon as they welcomed the Buffalo Sabres to the Wachovia center. The Orangle and Black came in without Daroll Powe, Blair Betts, Simon Gagne and Danny Briere, and during the game Ian Lapperier, and Jared Ross each went out with injuries. So for a while there the Flyers were down to about 3 lines and it showed as they ran out of gas down the stretch in a Sabres' victory. They actually outshot Buffalo 33-25 and fared well on faceoffs against the Sabres, but still lost because they didn't have quite enough left to take advantage of their opportunities down the stretch. The Flyer's actually had the early lead with Mike Richars and Braydon Coburn scoring within seconds of one another to finish off the 1st peroid with the Flyers up 2-1. From there Bufallo rallied with a power play goal in the 2nd period tie it up and then Tim Connolly scored twice in the 3rd period to put the Flyer's away for good in a 4-2 Sabre's win. So the Flyers drop their 4th out of their last 5 games and now desperately need to figure out how to get back on track fast. Fortunately, Danny Briere returns from his suspension for the Flyer's last game so that should help them a bit, but for now at 13-9-1 overall they sit 8th in the East by a slim margin.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
Lou Williams had surgery to fix his broken jaw today and his prognosis is not good. He will have to miss 8 weeks to allow it to heal. He had been playing very well, and was probably the Sixers most consistent performer thus this season so it is going to hurt to not have him in there all that time. On the other hand this means Jrue Holiday will get an extended amount of time to show his stuff, and continues to play well like he has and picks up the slack enough, the Sixer's could have an interesting conundrum on their hands when Lou comes back.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers finished their road trip at last tonight in New York against the Islanders. After losing 3 in a row the Orange and Black desperately needed this one to at least salvage a 2-3 road trip. Brian Boucher got the start in goal and he made all the difference with 28 spectacular saves out of the 29 shots he faced. The Islanders really outhustled and outmuscled the Flyers on this night, but thanks to Boosh they could only come up with one goal and 1-0 lead through most of the first 2 periods. Then with a little over 30 seconds left in the 2nd period Mike Richards scored on the power play, the Flyer's first only power play of the night, to knot it at up at 1. The Flyer's took over from there, with New York registering only 1 shot on goal in the 3rd period. Meanwhile, the Orange and Black kept throwing everything at former Flyer Marty Biron, but couldn't seem to get the winning goal past him. Finally with about 5 and half minutes to play, Scott Hartnell slapped one by Biron for a 2-1 lead that held up the rest of the way, thanks to some relentless Orange and Black defense. So the Flyers move to 13-8-1 overall and skate safely back up to 5th in the East. With Ray Emery struggling his last few times out I wouldn't be surprised to see Boosh out there for another night or two, especially if he keeps playing like this.
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