Sixers Come Up Just Short

This picture says it all - how the Sixers have a lack of a reliable go-to scorer in crunch time. They lost to the Warriors in overtime last night despite having a 12-point lead at halftime. They shot well, rebounded well, played nice defense, and hustled in the first half, however, several of those elements did not carry over to the second half. Iguodala settled for a jumper at the end of regulation from a spot that he's not in love with but came back to put them up by one with a superb driving, hanging, high-off-the-glass basket with under a minute in OT. After the Warriors took the lead on a 3-pointer by Kelenna Azubuike (yes, Kelenna Azubuike), the Sixers went to Lou Williams for the needed basket with about 6 seconds left. Now I don't necessarily have a problem with the ball going to Lou here. Iguodala had his chance and usually will get his number called, and sometimes there will be plays set for Korver when he is available, but after them Lou is the next best option because of his speed and ability to create (you could argue Willie Green but he seems to have a lot of turnovers while driving and hadn't shot well). Lou looked like he had an angle to the basket and the speed to get around Monta Ellis, but he slipped on something and tossed the ball futilely at the basket. It was weird being there and having it just kind of end awkwardly, the crowd really didn't seem sure about what happened since it looked like he might have gotten fouled. No foul. Game over.

This team has been in a few spots this year where they have needed one shot at the end of the game. It succeeded in Chicago and against Portland, but not last night and not the other night at Detroit. Just tough when so many games are ending up close and that one go-to type of player could key it for us.

Another thing I'm starting to notice that is troubling is the play of Rodney Carney. It does not seem as if he has progressed in the past year. He still does his drive floater and dunks from the wing. He also still has his hustle but he has not stepped up to take it to another level on defense and lock out guys on the wing. They seem to be able to drive around him and consistently make plays. I'm not surprised he's starting to lose more and more minutes to Thaddeus Young. Something to monitor when the rumors have started about packaging him with Miller in some trade offers...