Sixers look magical, beat Pistons convincingly
After the first two games, the whole series seemed like a big joke. On the one hand you had the defending world champion Detroit Pistons with their stifling defense and well executed half-court offense. On the other hand you had the Sixers, a team that was still struggling to discover a player rotation that would work consistently both on offense and defense.
Then there was last night. The Sixers played consistently, shot the lights out, kept competitive on the boards, and it was them this time that played the stifling defense, forcing shot clock violation after shot clock violation.
The Sixers actually looked good. They looked dominant. They looked like smooth operators. They worked together and it showed. They shot over 55% from the field. Webber was stroking it. Korver was knocking down his threes. Iverson found a nice balance between passing (15 assists) and shooting (37pts).
The most impressive aspect of the game is that the team looked well-oiled for once. Iverson would attract the double team, and Korver would slip behind him for the open three pointer. Webber located a soft-spot in Detroit’s defense, and Iverson found him there consistently after the drive. Rogers was nailing his threes. The Pistons couldn’t stop Iverson’s partial-penetration fade away. They looked good.
The only negatives were at the foul line (they missed a lot of them) and their defensive coverage of Ben Wallace who scored a carreer high 29 off more dunks than you can count on your fingers. Maybe they were willing to give Wallace the ball in exchange for tighter defense on the perimiter?
Here’s a theory: this is the first game that the Sixers did not open up a large lead in the first quarter. They actually gave up a large lead in the first. But they buckled down for the next three quarters. Is that what it takes to stay focused? Hopefully not. Hopefully they are maturing to the point where they can sustain leads and not just come from behind. Only time will tell.
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Posted on April 30, 2005 by Administrator | Filed Under Sixers, Philadelphia
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Hi my name is Zach Roskowinski. I am in 5th grade and I’m doing a school project on Allen Iverson. I am wondering if you have any information or pictures on Allen Iverson. If you do, could you mail or e-mail them to me?