More Disappointment for the 76ers

         The 76ers began the second half of the season with a record of 22-29 and 4 games out of the 8th playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Needing a solid second half start, the 76ers began play against the Kevin Love-less Timberwolves in Minnesota and following their trend of terrible play on the road they lost 94-86. The Wolves never trailed as Nikola Pekovic dominated the paint on both sides of the ball accumulating 27 points and 18 rebounds. The Sixers really had no one to contend with Pekovic's strength and size and it reflected in the numbers as the Sixers were out-rebounded 51-39. Evan Turner had 17 points to lead the Sixers and Jrue Holiday had 16 points and 5 assists after his first all-star appearance.

         On Saturday, the 76ers returned a sold out Wells Fargo Center (the only place they can seem to win) to face the red-hot Miami Heat. The Heat's winning streak would reach 10 straight despite the Sixers keeping it close for the first half. Lebron recorded another triple-double in the 114-90 beating of the Sixers. Although they were able to hold James to 16 points, the 76ers couldn't stop him from distributing the ball as he recorded 11 assists. The Heat shot an incredible 58% from the floor as D-Wade had 33 points to lead all scorers and Holiday had 21 to lead the 76ers. Evan Turner had 16 points and 7 rebounds but also gave up 5 turnovers in the loss. James was quoted in saying after the game, "Holiday is a great player, but he needs help," and I couldn't agree more (*Cough* Bynum *Cough). 

         After missing the last six games with a Hamstring strain, Thad Young returned for the Sixers to challenge the division-leading Knicks in New York. Both teams were in the midst of 4 game losing streaks but the Sixers once again missed their chance to capitalize. The Knicks opened the 2nd quarter 17-3 behind the play of Amar'e Stoudemire who has blossomed in his role off the bench. After tempers flared in the 3rd as Carmelo, Hawes, and Chandler got into a scuffle after the whistle, the Sixers were able to make it a game in the 4th quarter eventually fell to New York 99-93. Jrue Holiday led all scorers with 30 and Evan Turner had 21 points and 8 assists. Thad had a productive first game back recording a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and did his best defensively to contain Carmelo but couldn't stop him as he led the Knicks with 29 points. Stoudemire had 22 points in 22 minutes of play of the bench and shot 9-10 from the floor as the Sixers could not seem to bother him.

          The Sixers have now lost 5 straight and the Raptors have passed them in both division and conference standings. Luckily, as of Sunday night they are still only 4 games out of the playoffs but things would need to turn around quickly. They are an awful 6-18 away from home (third worst in the league) and play the next 5 of 8 on the road. To only make things worse, Andrew Bynum participated in his first 5 on 5 drills for Philadelphia and Coach Collins was not impressed. After Bynum stated last week that he would play this year, Collins said watching him only made it more obvious how far he still is from returning for the team. This team was supposed to be built around Bynum, who hasn't appeared to take his recovery and rehab seriously. This news following a 0-3 start to the second half of the season is completely defeating for Sixer fans who had such high hopes back in October. I could make more Bynum hairstyle jokes to lighten the mood but at this point its just sad.