Rested Sixers await busy Mavericks
The 76ers have a chance to tie their season-high four-game winning streak, and at least they will get a break from the schedule maker when they host Dallas tonight at the Wachovia Center.
The 76ers have a chance to tie their season-high four-game winning streak, and at least they will get a break from the schedule maker when they host Dallas tonight at the Wachovia Center.
In the NBA, so much of how teams play has to do with when they play. This will be the third straight game in which the Sixers will be playing a team that is in the second game of back-to-back contests.
The Sixers beat Miami on Thursday, 101-84, after the Heat had lost at Detroit the night before. The Sixers were idle the night before.
There is a common thought that any NBA team does not really need an advantage against a Heat squad that has lost 22 of its last 23 games, but an edge is still an edge.
A night after the Los Angeles Clippers won a surprising 102-98 decision in Toronto, the Sixers beat them, 101-80, on Saturday. Again, the Sixers were idle the previous night.
Now the Sixers host the Mavericks, who are championship contenders at 34-16. The Mavs lost, 101-82, last night in New Jersey, so they might not be in the best of moods tonight.
"These teams that have a chance to win the championship, it doesn't matter playing them in back-to-back games," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said yesterday. ". . . Back-to-back games don't faze a team like Dallas."
We're not so sure of that. Every team hits a tired spell, especially past the midway point of the season.
The Sixers have been benefiting from their fastbreaking style lately, and their best chance would be to try to run Dallas into the ground.
That's the equivalent of beating a tired team when it's down. By the way, this will be the Mavs' sixth road game in their last eight contests.
So the Sixers should attempt to find out early if last night's game and the subsequent drive down the New Jersey Turnpike have taken their toll on Dallas.
During their three-game winning streak, the Sixers have outscored teams by 78-30 in fastbreak points.
Right now, the Sixers are playing with a lot of energy. They may not need a break in the schedule, but they should find out almost immediately if Dallas has the energy to keep up with their fastbreaking style.
