Collins won't let Sixers let up in rout of Atlanta
ATLANTA - As far as laughers go, this one was a real yukfest. Just don't tell coach Doug Collins that.
ATLANTA - As far as laughers go, this one was a real yukfest.
Just don't tell coach Doug Collins that.
Rare have been games this season for the 76ers in which Collins could run a play successfully, then, with a shrug of the shoulders, tell his team to do it again. Kind of, "if it worked once, why not do it again . . . "
That's pretty much how easy it was for the Sixers last night as they pasted the Atlanta Hawks, 117-83, at Philips Arena. It was a thorough beat down and a fantastic beginning to what is a tough six-game string before the All-Star break begins next week.
Collins said it was important to speed the game up for his club in order to negate the size advantage of the Hawks (33-19). The Sixers (24-27) got off to a torrid start, busting out to a 32-point lead (65-33) at the end of the first half. They played fast, as their coach instructed, and were helped by the absence of Hawks All-Star center Al Horford, who missed his second straight game with a bruised back.
In those first 24 minutes, Elton Brand, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams combined for 38 points and shot 15-for-19 from the field. The Sixers owned the boards (28-11), the paint (28-20) and the running game (21-6).
For all intents and purposes, this one was done at the half.
"I could never have imagined that kind of win tonight. Our guys have been playing well, but we came out and had a real sense of purpose," Collins said. "Our defense was great, and we got out in the open court. I thought Dre [Andre Iguodala] did a great job on Joe Johnson early in the game, so he never got himself going. We relegated him to shooting jump shots. Our whole thing was we thought if we could get some stops that our speed would really hurt them. Obviously, they missed Horford, but we played a terrific game tonight."
Though the lead got to as many as 36 points in the third quarter, Collins did not want his team to rest on its laurels. After Williams swished a three-pointer late in the third to make it 85-51, Collins screamed at his players - "Six straight scores. Six straight scores." His point was that the Hawks had scored in each of their prior six possessions. When the Sixers held Atlanta scoreless on the next one, Collins was as happy as he'd been at any point of the game.
At another point, after rookie Evan Turner made a nice jump pass to Thaddeus Young under the basket, resulting in two free throws, Collins shouted at Turner to tell him he had made a nice pass. Turner, though, didn't respond to Collins' shouts. The coach then told Holiday to tell his teammate to look over at his coach or he was coming out of the game.
It's all about learning lessons for the older coach and his adolescent team. As Collins said earlier in the season, there are no garbage minutes during the course of a game, not when he's coaching.
"The third quarter to me was all about maturity," Collins said, "and I told them that. I said we'll find out how mature we are to start this third quarter. We don't want this team [Atlanta] to have any life. Let's keep them at bay, and we did. Our whole goal was to win the third quarter. We lost it by two. But I saw a real sense of purpose. We weren't going to let down and it was critical because we have Orlando [tonight]."
It was the Sixers' eighth win in 10 games, but they'll have to put this performance behind them quickly, with the Magic visiting tonight and the San Antonio Spurs on Friday before they head out for three straight road games before the All-Star break.
"It's a big win for us," said Williams, who finished with a team-high 20 points. "We realize what's ahead of us. We understand the five games we have left that it's going to be important for us to go into the break feeling good."
There were plenty of good feelings last night as six players reached double figures, and the defense held Atlanta to 40.7 percent from the floor (35-for-86) and limited Johnson to only six points.
Elton Brand scored 17, while Jodie Meeks and Young added 16 each. Holiday posted 15 points and Iguodala collected 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Rookie Evan Turner came close to a triple-double with eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Hard to find a fault with the team in this one, and the coach was assuring throughout there would be few, instructing until the very end.
"He's got to do that, we've got to finish games," Williams said. "We've let a couple get away this year. When we get a huge lead like that, the feeling is you'd sure hate to lose it. Coach is the same way. He coached until the buzzer went off. If he relaxes, we relax. We can't afford to do that. Our youth is important to how we play basketball and, at the same time, it can backfire on us if guys start not playing hard."
The big win did allow for some relaxation, with Collins resting some of his players for tonight's game.
"E.B. got a lot of rest tonight, as did Spencer [Hawes] and I didn't use Tony [Battie]," Collins said. "So I'll have all those big guys tonight against Dwight Howard."
The theme for Collins for this game was maturity, and it really has been that way all season. Brand, for one, sees the benefits.
"Every night we feel like we can win every ballgame," he said. "It wasn't like that earlier in the season."
Sixshots
Andre Iguodala missed a breakaway dunk in the first quarter when his two-handed windmill appeared to slip out of his hands. He quickly made up for it with a steal and a nifty layup after avoiding traffic with a behind-the-back dribble . . . Forward Andres Nocioni, who is still nursing a fractured finger on his right (shooting) hand, saw his first action since Jan. 24. Fellow forward Darius Songaila played for the first time since Dec. 21 . . . Jason Kapono was deactivated.
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