Sixers Win In The Motor City

Great game tonight for the Sixers in knocking off the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons are 2nd in the East and are legitimate contenders for the NBA title (I stated the other night that I in fact like them to win it over the Celtics) and the Sixers took it to them and earned a hard-fought victory. Great bench play from Rodney Carney who I am often admittedly critical of. He shot efficiently from both inside and outside and also played nice defense at the end by doubling on Billups to alter his final shot attempt. Young was playing a strong game but Carney had the hot hand so Cheeks stuck with him.

Andre Miller must have really injured his back in the Boston game because he left the game tonight with apparent pain. He is one of the most durable players in the league and an obvious leader on our team. We cannot afford to have him at less than full strength right now. Another standout tonight, despite his foul trouble in the second half, was Reggie Evans. He played great against the big front line of Detroit and was all over the place. I always get nervous that his free throw shooting will cost us down the stretch but thankfully you can't tie one loss directly to that.

Sixers are in the middle of a tough stretch with playing home vs. Boston, at Detroit, at Chicago, vs. San Antonio, vs. Denver (Iverson return), at Orlando, vs. NJ, and at Boston. Those 8 games will weigh heavily on where they fall in the playoff mix. A reasonable person might assess the Sixers to win about 2 of those games. That is why winning a game like tonight is a value win because it's one that would have normally been considered a loss. If they can win in Chicago and home against NJ and sneak out an emotional victory against the Nuggets in what is sure to be a sold out game, then that will be great for this stretch.