MVN - Most Valuable Network

Sixers season opener in Toronto

It’s been a crazy day in the office.  I’ve been working on a few preseason panel roundtables, which you can find here and here.  The Sixers tipped off in Toronto at 7pm Eastern.  The game was on 610WIP radio and Comcast SportsNet.

My colleague at Raptors Den - Michael Montgomery - previewed the game from the Raptors standpoint.  I thought his team would win by 15.  They started their division title defense against the “soft” Sixers, and it was be a good start for them.  They handled the Sixers last year and it carried over to this year.

Here were the key matchups:

POINT GUARD: Prediction: Sixers (T.J. Ford is one of the games best young point guards, while Andre Miller earns a slight edge on experience).  Result: Raptors (Ford finished with 14 points, 12 assists and only one turnover.  With Ford on the floor, the Raptors were +24 over the Sixers.  Miller finished at -26.  Raptors took a decided advantage here).

SHOOTING GUARD: Prediction: Raptors (Anthony Parker is highly underrated, and going up against the Sixers fifth starter makes him a safe bet).  Result: Raptors (Willie Green got the start and played 36:50 for 12 points, 4 assists and only 1 turnover.  Parker slightly edged him with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and no turnovers in just under 35 minutes).

SMALL FORWARD: Prediction: Sixers (For the sake of giving Philly an advantage, this matchup is Andre Iguodala against Jason Kapono and Iggy will get Jiggy with it).  Result: Sixers (Kapono was +19 with 9 points in 23:24, but Iguodala had 23 points, including 12 in the 4th quarter, with 8 rebounds.  His 7 turnovers were costly).

POWER FORWARD: Prediction: Raptors (Chris Bosh vs. Reggie Evans…at least there will be some resistance on the glass).  Result: Raptors (Bosh had 16 points in 25:47, but Evans won the battle of the boards with 15 in 21:53 of play to Bosh’s 4).

CENTER: Prediction: Raptors (Andrea Bargnani will school an injury-hampered Dalembert, but look for Jason Smith to get some minutes here as well).  Result: Raptors (Bargnani led the way with 20 points, while Dalembert finished with 4 points, 6 boards, 4 blocks and 2 assists.  Bargnani was +13, while SammyD was -23).

BENCH: Prediction: Sixers (Smith, Lou Williams, Kyle Korver and either Willie Green or Rodney Carney will have an slight advantage over Jose Calderon, Juan Dixon, Carlos Delfino, Joey Graham, Jorge Garbajosa and Rasho Nesterovic - although the Raptors bench tends to play out of their minds against the Sixers…including Kris Humphries and Darrick Martin).  Result: Sixers (Korver had an efficient 20 points, Williams had 6 points, 2 assists and no turnovers in 15:52 while finishing a team best +17, Carney chipped in with 7 points and 4 boards in 16:29 and Jason Smith added 4×4.  Calderon led the bench scoring for Toronto with 13, and Delfino finished with 7 points and 6 boards in 30 minutes).

The final score was Sixers 97, Raptors 106.  The Sixers were down by 20 midway through the third quarter before they started to rally.  They put up a 30 spot in the fourth quarter.  Thaddeus Young dressed, but did not play.  36:50 for Green is way too much when Williams only played 15:52.  Granted, Green played a solid overall game.  You can view the game highlights by clicking here.

What’s next?  The Sixers travel to Chicago to take on the Bulls Friday night at 8:30pm Eastern.  The game will be on CN8 and WPHT 1210am.  Stay tuned to Passion and Pride for all your Sixers needs!

BONUS: The final list of NBA previews is here, with our friends from the Pacific Division contributing…

Golden St. Warriors
Golden State of Mind

Los Angeles Clippers
ClipsNation.com

Los Angeles Lakers
Forum Blue & Gold

With Malice

Phoenix Suns
Bright Side of the Sun

Sacramento Kings
Sactown Royalty

Archives
CelticsBlog NBA Page

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Anthony Parker, Lou Williams, Kris Humphries, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Reggie Evans, Sixers, Jorge Garbajosa, Darrick Martin, Jose Calderon, Season opener, Jason Kapono, T.J. Ford, Rodney Carney, Chris Bosh, Juan Dixon, Jason Smith, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Rasho Nesterovic, Andrea Bargnani, Kyle Korver, Sam Dalembert, Andre Miller, Joey Graham, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.