Heard in the Cheap Seats

via Depressed fan

This was the one game on the West Coast road swing that the Sixers stood no chance of winning.  The Lakers are arguably the best team in the NBA right now and were playing at the Staples Center where only a handful of teams have walked away victorious.  Everything in the book and pre-game analysis said that Philly should lose this game.  Well throw out the book, because the Sixers had different ideas. 

Prior to the game I outlined five keys to walking away victorious.  Let”’’s take a look back at the game and see how the Sixers fared last night.  

#1 Don””t Allow Kobe to Beat You 

This was the key factor in the game.  Any time you limit Kobe Bryant to 11 points on 5-15 shooting you will put yourself in position to win the basketball game.  Andre Iguodala was blanketing Kobe Bryant for the entire fourth quarter and made him work hard on every offensive position.

#2 Keep The Lakers Off the Offensive Glass

The Sixers did a solid job of keeping the Lakers off the offensive glass last night—holding the Lakers to 10 offensive rebounds, which is 2.5 below their average.  Sure, they struggled down the stretch at grabbing defensive rebounds and it almost cost them in the end.  But overall, they held their own.  Perhaps more importantly, the Sixers were all over the offensive glass, particularly Samuel Dalembert who pulled in 8 on his own. 

#3 Limit Turnovers

The Sixers took care of the ball all night—refusing to give the Lakers extra possessions.  In the first half, Lou Williams practically carried the team and made solid decisions on where to go with the basketball.  For the game, Lou Will finished with  18 points, 6 assists and only 1 turnover.  As a team, the Sixers only coughed up the ball 10 times resulting in 13 points for the Lakers. 

#4 Shoot the Ball Well 

The Sixers did not shoot the ball particularly well in any facet of the game last night.  They struggled from beyond the arc and fell victim to the same woes that have plagued them all year long at the free throw line.  But there is a silver lining to this story.  In crunch time, when it mattered, the Sixers turned it all around.  Iguodala started knocking down shots, including the decisive three pointer at the buzzer and Donyell Marshall came off the bench to knock down 3 from three-point land.  It appears that Marhsall is playing his way into some crunch time minutes. 

#5 Start Quick

At halftime, the game was all knotted up, so the Sixers did a great job of hanging around.  They had an awful third quarter but clearly put that out of their minds with a torrid fourth quarter. 

Bar none, this was the biggest win so far this season.  In looking at the five-game road trip, few people expected the Sixers to walk away from this game with a win.  But the team kept fighting and was able to pull off the upset.

But there is no time to soak in the victory, it”’’s time to continue the ascent up the Eastern Conference standings with a win over the Suns tonight.