Thursday, April 21, 2011
Posted: 8:07 p.m.
By Reuben Frank
CSNPhilly.com
If youre looking for a positive in a series thats been pretty miserable, Doug Collins has one.
The Sixers defense.
Its gotten lost in the shuffle, since the Sixers have shot the ball so poorly in the first two games of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Heat. But the Sixers have actually played fairly well on the defensive end so far.
The Heat lead the best-of-seven series two games to none, with Game 3 scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers have been dismal on offense, scoring just 89 and 73 points in the two games in Miami and shooting 38 percent.
NBA
But theyve have held their own defensively. The Heat are shooting 45 percent from the field and 22 percent from three-point range and averaging 96 points in the two games. During the regular season, they shot 48 percent (second-best in the NBA) and 37 percent from three (seventh-best) and averaged 102 points (eighth-best).
Weve done a good job in the paint, weve done a good job defending the three, Collins said during his pregame chat with the media Thursday evening. The big thing weve not been able to transfer some of our defensive stops into fast-break points, and this is a team that doesnt turn the ball over a lot, and one of the things we like to do is get out in the open court, and when we do that, it puts so much emphasis on us being able to make halfcourt plays.
So good defense hasnt led to easy baskets, but if the Sixers continue to hang in there on the defensive end, at least theyll have a chance to steal a win in Philly and send the series back to Miami.
Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Game 5, if necessary, would be Wednesday in Miami.
We know to play this game, weve got to play for 48 minutes, Collins said. I know thats a trite thing to say, but every game weve played them, theres been one quarter where they had a decisive advantage, and we cant have that tonight.
The other night, it was quarter No. 2 (30-18), Game 1 it was quarter No. 2 (35-18), I think it was quarter No. 4 the one time we played down there (34-17).
It seems like one quarter, theyve locked us down, and its been like a 15-, 16-, 17-point differential. The one thing tonight, we cant let our shooting discourage us, and the other night we got discouraged, and I think its human nature when you cant find the hoop. ... I think we missed our last nine shots of the second quarter. So if we can find the hoop tonight, we think we have a great chance to win this game.
Searching for Iguodala
Andre Iguodala has scored just nine points in the two games and is shooting 4 for 15 (27 percent), and Collins said its no secret why.
He has zero fast-break points in the series, he said. Our speed and quickness in the open court, thats how were dangerous. ... When hes in the open court, thats when hes at his best, either handling the ball or finishing on the break.
Iguodala said after Game 2 in Miami that he is going to try to get the ball in better position against the Miami defense so he can either take higher percentage shots or kick the ball out to the perimeter.
Hes got to hold his position, and weve got to make a good pass, Collins said. If you want to catch the ball in a certain area, youve got to hold your spot and weve got to make sure we deliver him the ball in that spot. Its a two-way deal.
Although Thaddeus Young is one of the few Sixer bright spotshes been the Sixers leading scorer in both games with 20 and 18 points to go with 17 rebounds, 13 on the offensive endCollins said he cant get greedy and give Young more playing time.
Young has gotten 28 and 29 minutes in the first two games. So hes scored 23 percent of the Sixers points in the series, despite playing 12 percent of the minutes.
The way our team is, Ive got to keep Thads minutes at 28, 29, Collins said. He just gets worn down, he plays so hard, and Ive got to keep him fresh. They realize how much Thad means to our team, and they put either Joel Anthoy or LeBron (James) on Thad.
One minor lineup changeCollins said hell probably bring veteran Tony Battie in for some early minutes. Battie played less than a minute in Game 1, but had a physical 13-minute run in Game 2 with three points, three rebounds and one hard foul on James.
Thought he showed some life, Collins said. He gave us some size in the paint, something we need.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com
Related: Sixers learning from Heat as they look to turn tideBuy 76ers Gear