Moving On Now: Sixers Hammer Bobcats in Yawner

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As far as team-defining character traits go, "Reliably slaughters awful
teams" isn't quite as sexy as "Comes through in the clutch" or "Plays
the best against the best" or whatever, but hey, it's still more than at
least half the teams in the league could say. Charlotte managed to keep
this one close for 24 minutes, but as they've managed to do against
crap squads all year, the Sixers pulled away from the Bobcats in the
second half, ending with a 105-80 victory. The Sixers finish their
season series against MJ's crew with a 3-0 record and a +51 point
differential, both of which seem about right for these two teams.

Jrue Holiday had his second strong scoring night in a row, this time
only needing 13 shots for his 20 points, while Lou Williams and Thaddeus
Young scored a combined 39 points on collective 18-24 shooting off the
bench. (No FTs for either, oddly—does anyone in this league get less
calls than Thad?) Elton Brand had himself a strong game up front, with
16 points and eight boards, and Spencer Hawes had his best game since
returning from injury, with 13 points, 11 rebounds (six offensive!),
three blocks and two assists. 'Dre scored not much but did his
all-around thing with the seven boards and five assists and solid D and
such.

Game was more of a struggle for Evan Turner, who has reminded us big
time the last few games that he is not immune to streakiness in his
second year. After four straight games of Good Evan, we got one mixed
night in Miami and now two games of Bad Evan against Chicago and
Charlotte. After making three of his first five, Turner posted an 0-fer
the rest, with missed jumpers leading to blown layups leading to silly
shots and defensive lapses and arguing with the refs and just a lot of
general Badness. Coach Collins was perhaps wise to yank ET for most of
the second half, sensing that it may not have been the
Extraterrestrial's night, though who knows if that will compound things
for Evan going into Wednesday's game against New York. (Evan followed up
his 1-12 game against the Bucks with the 27-pointer against the C's, so
here's hoping for Good things.)

Still, the team clearly didn't need much from Evan tonight, as
ratcheted-up defense and a hot shooting quarter from Sour Patch Lou in
the third was enough to put the Bobcats to bed early. It's not a game
they'll be referencing much in the team yearbook, but a win is a win (or
so I hear), and the Sixers needed to add one to the W column after
notching three more in the L in their last three games. Onto more
relevant foes next in the Celtics and Knicks, so here's hoping this was
all the team needed to reverse momentum after those three straight
losses last week. I want that four seed, dammit.

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