MVN: Most Valuable Network

In the first sellout of the year, 76ers rewarded their fans with a 100-86 loss. The game was pretty exciting for the first 3 quarters, but the veteran team eventually flexed their muscles over the second hottest team in the league (Houston won it's 19 straight last night).

The game started with 3 threes by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. After a 15-0 start by the Celt's, the Sixers rallied with their own 9-0 run led by Reggie Evans and Andre Iguodala. This young squad saw what an all-around team looks like up-close and personal. Boston ran fastbreaks to perfection, mixing up drives with trailing three-point attempts. Their half-court offense was obviously executed perfectly with 2 borderline hall-of-famers and 1 guaranteed in the middle.

At halftime the score was 47-53, C's lead. Unfortunately the Sixers started the 3rd quarter the same as the first quarter. They simply couldn't hit a shot. More than half of the credit goes to the Boston defense. Celtics hustled back on defense, preventing many transition opportunities. In the half-court, the Sixers execution wasn't the greatest but penetration led to wide-open jumpshots that weren't falling. Celtics did a good job of baiting a bad shooting team tto fall in love with the outside shot instead of playing off of the drive. Following a season-high 60% shooting on Sunday, Celtics held the Sixers to 31.6%. While Sixers weakness is outside shooting, 2-17  from behind the arc is unacceptable.

Andre Miller had his second sub-par shooting night going 7-20. Just to show how bad the team shot, he led the team in scoring with 22. Willie Green left with a back spasm and didn't return. We really missed him in the half-court and his ability to get up shots and stretch the defense. No matter how you feel about him, there's no denying that he can put the ball in hole over the best defense when he's on. His replacement made us appreciate what we have.

Andre Iguodala had 17 on 5-14 shooting. Sammy D had his worst offensive game of the year, tallying 2 points on 1-9 shooting. He was matched-up against an underrated big man in Kendrick Perkins. Perkins gave Sam a taste of his own medicine, sending back 6 of Sixers' shots. The stat of the night is Louis Williams ' 3-15 (10 points) shooting night. He played SG most of the night due to Green's injury and he seemed to try to compensate for Willie's shots and his own. The offense stopped when he had the ball and made playing defense much easier for the Celtics.

Our rookies probably were the most impressive of all. Jason Smith was the main source of offense during stretches, knocking down that 15-ft jumpshot. He still gets knocked around down low and doesn't really box out or rebound well, but his offense and energy will keep him in games alone. Thaddeus Young had a pretty good game (11 points, 4 rebounds in 23 minutes) in only 23 minutes which is not enough. Brian thinks his departure from the game may have killed the momentum.

The Sixers had their worst shooting night of season, yet only lost to the best team in the league (standings-wise)  by 14. Boston may not be the best match-up in the first round, after second thought. They have a ton offensive firepower and we have little to none. Another playoff atmosphere is awaiting them in Motown as they face the Pistons on Wednesday.  It was their first taste of playoff basketball and whether they're ready for it or not, more is on it's way.