12/27/12
The 76ers are in the midst of their longest road trip of the
season. They began their road trip in Brooklyn, and last night flew in to Memphis to take on the
Grizzlies. The 76ers have been on a rocky streak losing six of their past seven
games and they were dying to get a win. The Grizzlies are known for being a
scrappy team on defense and have a couple of solid big men. Those big men are
Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. In some ways, this Grizzlies team is similar to
what the 76ers were for the past two years defense-wise. Jason Richardson sat
out this game for the 76ers due to an ailing back injury. Rudy Gay, the
Grizzlies best overall player on the team, was not with his team due to
personal reasons.
The first half was a slow start for the 76ers. They were
down by as much as 10 points in the first quarter. Gasol and Quincy Pondexter
started out hot, but cooled down as the game progressed. The 76ers shot well in
the first half, and the Grizzlies had a great first quarter and a terrible
second quarter. There was one thing I saw that the 76ers did differently on
defense. They started playing a 2-3 zone defense. That defense is supposed to
pressure the offensive team into shooting three pointers because the defense
will clog the paint and will defend the high percentage shots. Another good
thing the 76ers did on offense was attack the basket and draw fouls. They shot
16 free throws in the half, which is what they usually average in a game. They
also did a very good job in rebounding the ball. The 76ers led at halftime
49-47. Dorell Wright has been on a roll as of late. He scored 13 points to lead
the 76ers in scoring in the half. Gasol led the Grizzlies with 12 points, all
scored in the first quarter.
The 76ers took control of this game in the second half. They
shot well, especially from the three point line. The Grizzlies lost their
shooting touch after that hot first quarter. The 76ers changed their defensive
strategy too. Whenever Gasol or Randolph had the ball on offense, the 76ers
would double team those two players and contain them from scoring. That worked
when the 76ers defended Gasol, but not when they defended Randolph. The 76ers made this game a blowout
in the fourth quarter when they made it a 15 point lead. One guy that surprised
me in this game was Royal Ivey. He hit two big three’s to expand the lead when
the game was close. The 76ers won this game by a final score of 99-89. Dorell
Wright, who replaced Richardson
in the starting lineup, finished with a season-high 28 points. Spencer Hawes
scored a season-high 20 points off the bench and had nine rebounds and five
blocks. This was Hawes’ best game of the season. Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus
Young both collected 13 points. Both Holiday
and Evan Turner finished with nine assists in the game. Nick Young scored 12
points off the bench. For the Grizzlies, Gasol finished with 18 points, eight
rebounds, and eight assists. Randolph
scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and collected nine rebounds.
Pondexter finished with 13 points and Mike Conley Jr. scored 10 points. Both of
them had horrific shooting games going a combined 6-27 from the floor.
Overall, the 76ers surprised me with this win against a team
that is supposed to be amazing on their home court. The Grizzlies were 12-2 at
home going into this game. The bench play was very good last night as well as
their rebounding. The 76ers shooting was most impressive, especially from
three. I liked how they went to the free throw line a lot in the first half,
but they have to have that mindset for the second half too. The Grizzlies are a
good team, but this game could have been different if Gay were available to
play. He loves playing defense and he can shoot the ball.
Should Dorell Wright
continue to start when Jason Richardson comes back from injury? Sound off and
stay tuned until next time…
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