I can remember back in the late 80’s when the Doc came to the Pontiac Silverdome
to play his last game in Detroit. Being a Detroit native, it was an easy ticket
considering the Pistons routinely sold 30, 40, even 50 thousand tickets for the big
games. The Lakers and Celtics were the main draws then, however, the NBA
It has come full circle since the late 1980s.

On Wednesday night, AI and the Sixers hosted the best basketball player in the world,
LeBron “King” James. The face of the NBA was on display. A multitude of capacity
(which is rare these days at Sixers games) packed the Wachovia Center to see what
kind of show the Sixers had in store for them. Would this be the Sixer team that
beat the world champion San Antonio Spurs, or possibly the Sixer team
who played unhappily against Chicago and lost by 32 points just one day after his
biggest win of the season?

For most of the first quarter, the Sixers rushed and outplayed the upstart.
Riders. To sum up the entire first quarter, neither LeBron nor AI were the show.
The Sixers shot 50% from the field, compared to a dismal 33% for the Cavs, just
with a slight 7-point lead after the first quarter. However, the Sixers couldn’t shake off
Cleveland for a long time. Led by Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland slowly made its way into the Sixer
lead. Things turned quickly for the Sixers once LeBron took his second quarter.
breathed and increased their lead to 10 points with 5:10 left in the second quarter,
which accounted for the rest of the half. The Sixers finished strong with Chris
Webber setting the pace for a balanced attack by the Sixers, contributing 14 points at halftime.
Iguodala chipped in 12 points and Iverson had 11 points. Ilgauskas led all scores
with 22 points while LeBron showed flashes of himself with just 11 points.

If the third quarter was any indication of what the Sixers have in store for the
rest of the season, Billy King had better stick with the team he has. the sixers
brought their third-quarter lead to 17 points, looking impressive at both ends of the
runs. Despite some of their best games this season, the Cavs cut Sixer’s lead to
seven points. King James warmed up in the 3rd quarter finishing with 22 points
after three quarters. No advantage in the NBA is certain and the Sixers have yet to put
nobody was this year.

The Cavs’ fourth-quarter surge was short-lived. Cut the deficit to six
points with two minutes to go, Webber grabbed a loose ball and lobbed it to Sasha
Pavlovic gave the Sixers basketball, which later led to John Salmons backing down
with: 55 seconds remaining in regulation increasing Sixer’s lead to nine. Iverson,
Iguodala and Webber had impressive games at both ends of the court with
support off the bench, paving the way for a 116-107 Sixers win. Lebron James
finished the night with 33 points, shooting 13 of 24, but received little support
from the rest of his teammates outside of Zydrunas Ilgauskas who played a strong
Game pitch at 27 points, shooting 10 of 17 from the ground. Allen Iverson finished
the game with 29 points and 12 assists, while Iguodala added 25 points.
Chris Webber added 24 points and 14 rebounds (all defensive end).

Sixers notes: General manager Billy King stated before the game that the Sixers could be happy
with what they have. We will all have to wait and find out if a trade is in the works. He
it looks like the Sixers will sit with what they have and play the
The rest of the year. Second Chance Points… The Cavs outscored the Sixers 18-6.
Cleveland scored 62 points in the paint compared to 54 for the Sixers. When
when asked how far the Sixers could go with their current roster, Andre Iguodala responded
saying, “This team can go all the way to the Finals. Going to the Finals is every
player’s goal and there’s no reason this team can’t go that far.” Also, Andre
he added “The team won this game tonight.” The Sixers will hit the road to face the
Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night and then returns to the Wachovia Center to host the
Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.

Game Quotes:
Maurice Cheeks, head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers
On getting LeBron James to “work” on defense…
“We talked about it; giving Andre (Iguodala) some offensive chances in the
block, realizing he’s going to be protecting LeBron (James) for over 40 minutes.
He’s going to be on the move offensively, so we try to give Andre (Iguodala) something
opportunities with the ball instead of just letting it wander because it’s a
pretty good defensive player. Later they changed it to Allen (Iverson) so you
I know it’s going to be a bit of a challenge for him. They both accepted the challenge.
but we try to get the ball to Allen (Iverson) more on the offensive end.”

John Salmons, forward for the Philadelphia 76ers
On whether there was a concentrated effort to get the ball from Iguodala more often…
“I think so, especially in post.”