Sixers' youth a challenge in closing out series

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CHICAGO -- Youthful players make for fresher legs and quicker recovery time, or so goes the conventional wisdom. If there was one advantage the Sixers had going for them headed into the best-of-seven series against the Bulls, it was their youth.

Aside from the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sixers are the youngest team in the NBA, and in Tuesday night's 77-69 loss to the Bulls in Game 5 it showed.

Another thing that comes with a youthful roster is inexperience. As it pertains to closing out a playoff series, the Sixers have just Elton Brand, Tony Battie and Sam Young as players who have marched on to the conference semifinals. Of those players, only Brand sees significant playing time.

So perhaps, with that youthful inexperience, the Sixers may not understand how to close out a series against a team that has been through a few more of the wars? That was one theory floating around the United Center after the Sixers' wretched shooting display in Game 5. In fact, one game removed from a 1-for-14 beginning, third-year guard Jrue Holiday shot just 1 for 9 into the third quarter.

And as Holiday went, so did the rest of the team. Andre Iguodala went 4 for 19 while Evan Turner shot 2 for 7. In the biggest game of the season the Sixers went 4 for 23 in the second quarter.

Could the Sixers have lost their composure?

"I don't think so," Collins said. "It was just a very, very physical game. So I don't think in any way we lost our composure."

That may be true, but the Sixers didn't make it easy on themselves in Game 5. Along with all of the bricks, the Sixers committed a series-high 14 turnovers and allowed the Bulls to dictate the nature of the game with their bruising defense. Brand got just five shots while Spencer Hawes, who scored 43 points in games 3 and 4, got just nine shots in Game 5. Additionally, top reserve Thad Young took just three shots and had them all blocked. In fact, the Bulls had 11 blocks in all, which is another example of how they imposed their defensive might on the Sixers.

After the Sixers pulled off the gritty win in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the series, Collins sounded an alarm to his team about how difficult the close out game of a series can be. He even had assistant coach Michael Curry tell the story of how his Detroit Pistons teams rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to beat Orlando in 2003, while Collins repeated the theme that his players had to treat Game 5 as if it was they who were pushed to the brink.

"Nobody wants to go home," Brand said. "So we're going to have to beat them to knock them out."

Another theme for Collins in this season has been the teaching moments adversity has presented. With experience comes knowledge and now that the Sixers have seen how tough the Bulls could be when wounded and cornered, perhaps the experience will resonate.

"You can't let one game get you spinning in the wrong direction," Collins said. "We didn't expect to beat the Bulls in four straight--this is a damn good team."

Of course the top-seeded Bulls have played without MVP Derrick Rose for the past four games and haven't had top rebounder and energy man Joakim Noah in the last two games. There is a chance Noah could return for Game 6, which might give the Bulls a psychological edge as the series goes forward.

Headed into Thursday night's Game 6, Collins remains on message.

"I don't want to come to Game 7," Collins said.

Fortunately for the coach, youthful players also are blessed with short memories. So understanding that their coach doesn't want to fly to Chicago for a do-or-die game this weekend, they are eager to get back on the floor for Game 6.

"It's frustrating that we couldn't make shots," Iguodala said. "We got some open looks, but they weren't going in. I feel really positive about Thursday. I can't wait to play again."

E-mail John Finger at jrfinger@comcastsportsnet.com

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