Monday, February 14, 2011
Posted: 8:50 p.m.
By Dei Lynam
CSNPhilly.com
When the Sixers meet Memphis at the FedEx Forum Tuesday night they will have redemption on their mind, conscious or not.
A 21-point lead on their home floor late in the third quarter proved not to be safe enough on Jan. 28, when the Sixers lost 99-94 to the Grizzlies after leading 70-49.
Jrue Holiday remembers vividly how it all unraveled.
I remember we were up twenty and they went to zone and we just got distraught, Holiday said, recollecting the 11 turnovers and 42 points allowed in the forth quarter. We couldnt make shots and stopped being aggressive, and they came back.
They put their second unit in which made it seem like they called it quits. But we all know when you put the second unit in they give their best effort and they played well. After that they had momentum. They put their first team back in and then Rudy Gays dunk.
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Gays dunk needed no further explanation if you were at that game or watched it on TV.
It was fierce. It came late in the fourth quarter. It solidified the statement the Griz were sending.
With 2:22 to go, Gay put a demonstrative dribble on the floor into the paint and rose above the rim to slam the ball in traffic. That bucket closed the Sixers lead to 84-82.
It was the exclamation point of that come-from-behind victory. For the Sixers, it also left that feeling one experiences when you are kicked in the gut, figuratively or literally.
That may have been our most painful loss, Doug Collins said. I think our guys looked at that loss and said we let that game slip away.
We were playing good basketball even before that Memphis game and being up 21 and losing, we all had a terrible feeling, Elton Brand said. We are good. Were better than that is what we said.
Brand speaks the truth. The Sixers had won five of seven before that five-point loss and then won four of five after.
The Sixers are currently 26-28. Their next win will match their win total from a year ago and should they win these next two, they will go into the All-Star break a .500 team. Given that they were 10 games under a couple months ago, knocking on this door is worthy of expressing pride.
I think it is important for us to get these next two wins, Andre Iguodala said. Not because of the record, just because of the break and being able to see where we are at as a team. That is our focus, but the same thing goes for other teams as well.
I would be .500 for the first time in my career, Holiday said, having played 136 career NBA games. Thatd be kind of awesome. I think if we could win these two games that would definitely give us momentum coming back from the All-Star break, which is good for us so that we can just keep on going.
The Sixers will have 25 regular season games to play after the break with 11 of them on the road.
Memphis has gone 8-2 in its last 10 games, while the Sixers are 9-3 in their last 12. The Grizzlies are No. 1 in the league in steals while the Sixers are second in taking care of the ball. Memphis is a very good offensive rebounding team and the Sixers hang their hat on their defense where over the past 10 games opponents are averaging 94 points, shooting 44 percent from the field and less than 31 from three-point range.
I think we have played defense very well, Holiday said. We showcased that against the San Antonio Spurs, the team with the best record in the league and I think that gives us a lot of motivation going into the next two games.
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E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com