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Rain rain, go away.
There's nothing quite like a blowout win to lift the spirits. Since Chase Budinger's layup that beat Indiana and put the Wolves at the top of the division at 4-1, the season has just been a long string of bad news bears. Barea hurt, Budinger hurt, Pekovic hurt, Roy need surgery, Kirilenko hurt. Love is back, only to find his wrist cast thingy makes shooting pretty hard, his stomach sometimes doesn't want to stay calm, and the other team pulls no punches when they know you're the best and can see you coming.
The Wolves needed something to wile away the troubles, and they got it tonight. Sometimes when you're stuck in a rut...even when you know in your head you're better than this...it takes one big leap to get out. Sometimes....well...
Consider the Sixers exploded.
And no, you aren't getting suspended Carter. Rajon Rondo is, for doing the world a favor and punking Kris Kardashian.
- Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic are still having trouble finding the bottom of the net. Tonight they combined for just 12 points on 5-17 shooting. On the bright side, Pek had two honest-to-goodness assists...a good sign, because part of his problem early this season seems to be the simple fact that, with a full training camp and a year's worth of tape to study, other teams see him coming now.
- On the flip side, the guards just about couldn't miss in this one. JJ Barea had an easy double-double (11 points, 10 assists) and the shooting guard combo of Lee and Shved shot 75%...including 9-12 from three...en-route to 27 points. Josh Howard did his part too, chipping in 16 points and 10 rebounds from the 3 spot (and 4 spot....Philly likes to play small)
- It'll be very very interesting to see where Malcolm Lee ultimately lands as a player. When S-n-P did the first 10 (11) game recap, Lee was a disaster on offense, shooting just 32%, and hit just 2 of his 12 threes. Since, he's shot 80%, gone 5-7 on threes, and shown signs of real defensive prowess. Somewhere in there is the real Lee. But well....in any case, we can all see why Adelman has been so patient in giving the kid second chances. Lee is one of the most athletically gifted guards in the NBA right now....I dare say he's right up there with Wade and Westbrook. If he can get his skill level to even half his athletic level, the guy is a sure-fire starter.
- It also raises another question....and this time, non-sarcastically: what is the point of Derrick WIlliams on this team?
- Evan Turner is proving to be not-half-bad. In terms of going forward, you could do a lot worse than a starting backcourt of Turner and Jrue Holiday.
- Performances like this are what make Shved awesome. Consistent performances like this will make him an all-star. For having traded away our only first rounder of the year, it sure is nice to have what is (in my humble opinion) the third best rookie on our team.
- Not sure what happened with Spencer Hawes. He's spent the last couple seasons as the only reliable, productive big man for the Sixers, and now he can't even get off the bench for more than 20 minutes?
- Kwame Brown managed to be part of a -13 hole in less than 12 minutes of burn. So....yeah....
- Umm. The New Orleans Pelicans???
No seriously. The New Orleans Pelicans???
Just because your roster is gimped up doesn't mean you have to gimp the rest of the organization.