BOX SCORE
Andre Iguodala was in the worst spot a basketball player could be. So rather than force a bad shot or throw a pass out of bounds with the Sixers trailing by a point with 5:37 to go in the opening quarter, Iguodala adjusted in midair and fired the ball off the top of the backboard with a little extra oomph on it.
Then, in one motion, Iguodala grabbed the rebound and dunked it for a sort of one-man alley oop. Better yet, he got credit for two points and a rebound on the play, which proved to be pivotal on his stat ledger.
Iguodala notched the eighth triple-double of his career and just the third in the NBA this season, going for 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in the Sixers 95-74 victory over the Pistons at the Center on Saturday night. If that isnt enough for the numerologists out there, consider this: Iguodala got his 10, 10 and 10 on his 28th birthday.
Yes, Iguodala turned 28 on the 28th.
In the meantime, Iguodalas one-man alley oop, which is sure to be the focus of all the highlight shows, gave the Sixers the lead they would never relinquish as they improved to 14-6 and pushed the lead in the Atlantic Division to four games.
That play should happen more, actually, Iguodala said. When youre coming down on a three-on-two break, the defense is playing the wingtheyre playing the pass. Its an easy play to make, but tonight its a hard play because if you mess up it looks like youre lollygagging around. So tonight it was the first time I did it where it wasnt planned. I just got stuck and had nowhere to go so once I saw I had the opportunity, I shot it extra hard. I put it up on the top of the backboard and said, Go get it.
NBA
Most guys, when they get stuck, they shoot it and go after the rebound, but its hard to get the rebound. I figured just shoot it off the backboard.
But as far as the Sixers half-court offense goes, Iguodalas play was one of the smoother sets during the easy win. As usual, the Sixers built leads near 30-points with defense, rebounding and fast breaks, but after the game head coach Doug Collins was not overly impressed with his teams half-court movement.
Where we are as a team offensively is we have to get so much from the guard position in terms of attacking, Collins explained. When we get caught up in a half-court game right now, we get very, very stagnant. So anytime we made a push tonight, it was off our defense. It was getting the ball ahead, attacking on the run.
Oh, Collins is not complainingfar from it. Wins are difficult in the NBA and Collins is going to take them anyway he can get them. But with the toughest stretch of the season looming where the Sixers play Orlando, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta one week before gearing up for the Lakers, Spurs and Clippers the next, the Sixers half-court offense is going to have to get sharper.
I think were doing OK, Iguodala said. When we play against the teams at the top of the conferenceslike Miami and the Atlanta Hawksthats when we really need to be on top of our game. Against lesser teams we kind of get stagnant sometimes, but we need to get the ball moving. Weve done it before, but we need to continue to make it a habit.
Still, the Sixers had six players score in double-figures with Lou Williams leading the way off the bench for the second straight night, with 17. Impressively, the Sixers had 27 assists on their 38 field goals while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor.
The six turnovers committed by the Sixers was a season-low.
Nevertheless, the team believes it can play better even without any semblance of practice time because of this years compressed schedule. Sometimes, Collins says when he watches tapes of games he has to remind himself that they won the game.
Thats what a coach sees no screening, no spacing, not cutting hard, he said. We have had no time to work on that. Thats what concerns me a little bit.
Dwight Howard and the Magic are next on Monday night, but that comes after Orlando hosts Indiana on Sunday night.
E-mail John Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com