The Sixers seemed to come into yesterday's game against the Cavs with a whole new energy and mindset. Maybe that beatdown they suffered to the Nuggets the other day knocked some sense into them somehow. Because the Sixers played yesterday with a laser focused, very business like feel. They just played hard without overthinking, from what I could tell anyway.
I can't say I saw this coming, it's been just uninspiring watching the Sixers recently. Yesterday was the team's first victory since January 8th, and having it come against the red-hot, excellent Donavan Mitchell led Cleveland Cavaliers makes this first win in ages feel even sweeter. Unbelievable! George, Maxey, and Oubre Jr. all scored 20+ points. Oubre Jr. AND Yabusele each recorded double-doubles, both men recording thirteen rebounds. With Drummond out again, their efforts in the paint were huge.
Both teams were dangerous from three point range last night, and the Sixers survived an absurd performance from Cleveland's Ty Jerome. He knocked down a Curry-like 8-8 from three point land on his way to a career high 33 points.
Sixers' HC Nick Nurse coached excellently, managing the team's injury riddled roster well. Even despite Jerome's performance the Sixers as a team knocked down threes at a higher rate than Cleveland!
The Cavs are now 36-8, tied for the best record in basketball with the Oklahoma City Thunder as I write this.
In December, the Sixers had an impressive 9-3 record and they seemed to be primed to attack the New Year in a good way. But then the Sixers fell into quicksand. Yesterday's win was super epic, and memorable for a regular season game. But that win only pushed the Sixers record in January to 3-10. All I'm saying is, the Sixers still have a lot of work to do to convince me they want to be any type of mild threat to make the playoffs.
I haven't bothered checking the standings much these days. The Sixers are about four-ish games behind the Bulls for a play in spot with their 16-27 record. Luckily the Sixers play the Bulls tonight so that's something. When it comes to a straight up playoff spot, they are comfortably behind the 23-21 Pistons.
The Sixers have completed over half of their games to be played in the 2024-25 season. The season has been flying. Let's see what they can do in this second half of the year.
The Sixers face a, I suppose beatable Chicago Bulls team. I have no clue what Sixers team will show up, but the Sixers could start a winning streak tonight who knows. I'd like to assume beating a Championship contender yesterday, means the Sixers can beat the Bulls today.
I'm intrigued about the season again, I will say that much!
