Atlanta Hawks at Philadelphia 76ers 1/20/12 Afterthoughts

This Sixers team is not letting up.

After losing a heartbreaker to Denver on Wednesday night, the team had a players-only meeting to discuss how they couldn’t lose two in a row on their home court. They started out looking a bit outmatched against the Hawks, but came out on fire in the second half both on offense and defense, winning the game 90-76.

It’s hard for fans to not be happy about the Sixers almost a month into the season, exceeding everybody’s expectations. The loss against Denver was rough, but the way they were able to come back tonight and fight from behind really showed the heart, grit and determination of this team.

They went down 11 in the 2^nd quarter, but they fought back to get within six at halftime. After a jumper by Joe Johnson with 8:52 remaining in the third, they went down 51-44.

Cue the offense.

Philadelphia followed with a 14-0 run to take a seven point lead and they ended the quarter on a 20-6 run. Former Sixer Willie Green hit a buzzer beater three at the end of the quarter, seemingly shifting the momentum going into the fourth. It became apparent, however, that it was just another three points, as Atlanta couldn’t get anything going offensively the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Sixers wouldn’t take their foot off the gas, going up by as much as 18 in the fourth with less than two minutes to play.

That’s not even taking into factor the team’s shutdown defense in the second half. The Hawks scored ten points in the third quarter. Ten. If it weren’t for Green’s long three at the end of the quarter, they would have scored seven points. Coach Doug Collins obviously knows exactly what to say during halftime because the third quarter is where the Sixers are best, averaging 27 points in their fourteen games prior. They scored 25 points tonight in the third.

In the second half, the defense gave up only 29 points, four points more than their third quarter total.

It’s pretty amazing that they played as well as they did tonight with their leading scorer, Lou Williams, being held to six points. Oh… wait. Is Philadelphia actually proving that you don’t need a superstar to win? Thaddeus Young had his second straight 20-point game, Elton Brand had 10 points and 16 boards and Jrue Holiday had 16 points and 11 assists. Andre Iguodala recorded his 1,000^th career steal, too.

It would be nice to have a Dwight Howard on this team, but the way this team is playing right now, with 5-6 and even sometimes 7 players getting into double digits every game, it doesn’t seem to be necessary… especially if it means trading some of our young pieces such as Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner.  

Critics of this team wanted to see the Sixers play well against some “good” teams. Well, the Hawks were 11-4, a half game better than Philly, before tonight’s loss. Is that good enough for the doubters? If not, they head down to Miami tomorrow to take on the Heat. If they can leave South Beach with a W, a big if, the Sixers will surely get the national recognition they are looking for. If they lose a close, hard-fought game? Well, hopefully that’ll be enough proof that the Sixers are a team to reckon with in the East.