I wouldn’t call it a season ending meltdown, nor would I dub it the most insignificant skid of the season, but perhaps somewhere in between those two polar extremes exists Tuesday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Really, I like to think of the 110-100 defeat as a subtle yet urgent reminder to Indiana and it’s fans: The allowable time frame for piling up losses is running out, especially for a team that wants to sustain its narrow lead over the Charlotte Bobcats for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
But Indiana’s problems don’t belong to 76ers head coach Doug Collins. His team is headed in the opposite direction of Indiana, the losers of four straight and seven of their last ten.
The 76ers have won 16 of their last 21 games. And at 33-30, they’re more concerned about reeling in the sixth place New York Knicks (33-29) than dealing with Indiana and Charlotte’s losing ways.
It really didn’t matter who was tossing the basketball into the air for the Sixers, because everything they were throwing up seemed to find the bottom of the net, one way or another.
Whether it was Andre Iguodala’s alley-oop pass to a floating Jrue Holiday or Jodie Meeks' game clinching 3-pointer with 1:24 to play after the Pacers cut Philly’s lead to 100-93 (the most respectable deficit of the second half), the Sixers were getting what they wanted, when they wanted. They scored 65 first half points to establish their offensive identity early. And once they had their double-digit halftime lead (65-53), they resorted to staunch defense in the second half, one that held the Pacers to 17 points in the third quarter.
Thaddeus Young paced the way for the balanced 76ers. He had 18 points and nine rebounds, while six of his teammates also eclipse the double-digit mark. Andre Iguodala had 16 points and an impressive 10 assists, a reassertion that coach Collins knows what he’s doing calling on his most tenured Sixer to run the offense. Iguodala is averaging nearly 6.5 assists per game this year, a career-high.
While the 76ers used balance scoring, stiff defense when needed and 51.1 percent shooting, the Pacers had only Tyler Hansbrough to brag about. He scored 26 points on 11 of 14 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench. The Pacers didn’t shoot poorly, though, they hit for 48.6 percent. But they looked out of sync most of the night; they had 19 turnovers and could only move the ball well enough for 13 assists.
Time to win
The loss brings the Pacers to 27-36 on the year. Thankfully, though, Charlotte (26-37) also lost Tuesday, so they still hold a game lead for the eighth spot. The Bobcats have lost five straight. And now would be a great time to extend that lead.
The Pacers have a chance to rectify and perhaps create a buffer between the Bobcats with a pair of sub .500 opponents on the horizon. They play the Minnesota Timberwolves (15-50) tonight at 8 p.m. Then Friday, the Pacers head north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors (17-46), a team, like them, that has lost seven of their last ten. As for Charlotte, they'll have it a little rougher. They get the second place Chicago Bulls (44-18) at home tonight and the Portland Trail Blazers (37-27) on Friday.
Notes:
Aside from Hansbrough’s 11 made field goals, no other Pacers player hit more than four shots. Among them, Danny Granger was limited to 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting…. Rookie Paul George had a career-high 10 rebounds, but failed to amass his first career double-double, scoring only six points… Rookie Lance Stephenson has clearly worked his way into the slumping Pacers rotation. Despite playing just 10 minutes, he has now appeared in six straight games after sitting out the first 57.
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