Despite a valiant and furious comeback during the late stages of the game, the Sixers came up just short today against the Dallas Mavericks—ending their winning streak at 7. Dirk Nowitzki provided the dagger with a fall away jumper as time expired to break a 93-93 tie. 
The Sixers looked sluggish through much of the third quarter and early in the fourth, allowing the Mavs to get out to a 13-point lead. But as seems to be a trait of this team, they fought back with a late-game rally propelled by their newfound ability to shoot the three.
Positives in the game:
– The Sixers continued to shoot the three-ball effectively, led by a 3-3 effort by Andre Iguodala. While I am encouraged by this sudden turnaround, I get the feeling that it is a little fluky. You don’t go from an atrocious shooting team to a respectable one in a matter of days. A few players have found their stroke in recent games, but I would expect a statistical correction shortly.
– Royal Ivey continues to get meaningful minutes and capitalize on those opportunities. I like his decision-making and ability to stretch the defense. He is not potent from beyond the arc by any stretch, but he at least has to be respected.
– The Sixers played well defensively when it came to slowing down Dirk. While he did have 23 points, it came on 7-23 shooting. As always though, Dirk was able to get to the line.
– Reggie Evans put in a solid effort today on defense and on the glass. His workhorse effort was a big part of the reason why the Sixers were able to claw their way back into the game.
– I am starting to see some improvement on how the Sixers move without the ball. Early in the year, they had spacing issues and tended to stand around and watch as one guy tried to create. They still fall into lapses of that mentality, but are showing improvement.
– A very good effort out of Lou Williams tonight. He was able to knock down open looks and finish at the hoop. This guy has a knack for scoring the basketball.
Negatives for the game:
– The perimeter defense in this game was awful. I realize that Jason Kidd is not a very reliable shooter, so the Sixers may have been content to let him shoot from out there. But at some point, somebody has to get a hand in his face.
– Iggie needs to pick his spots when he looks to create. He is turning the ball over far too frequently and it is usually a result of him forcing the issue.
– The free throw shooting today was poor as usual. Solid NBA teams do not shoot 66% from the line. That needs to improve.
Overall the Sixers did not turn in their best effort and saw their win streak halted at 7. The question now becomes: can this team continue its solid play when Brand returns to the lineup?
My fear is this: the team is not as good as its been playing in the last few games. Because of this, Brand will be held accountable to an unfair benchmark for success. At some point, this team was bound to come back to earth and it looks like that earth landing might just happen to coincide with the return of Elton Brand to the lineup.
I agree that the team and its shooting will cool of. It probably won’t have much to do with Brand, but I’m sure Brand and Iguodala will take all the heat.
Do you think attendance will start to become more respectable? I guess if they can move up in the standings… They should draw more interest now that the Eagles are done.
Exactly. This team is not as bad as it was in the early part of the year and not as good as it has been in the last stretch. When they cool off, it will probably coincide with the arrival of Elton Brand and that will bring out the boo birds. I would expect a shade above .500 from this team so we’ll see if that is what we get.
It’s an interesting question about the attendance. My brother wrote a few weeks back that this team, along with the Flyers, are both teams worth embracing. The attendance has been dismal but we should see a slight uptick now that the Eagles are done. It’s a shame that the recent string of success for the Sixers coincided with the Eagles run through the playoffs. If it had happened two weeks later it just may have had an impact on attendance.