Sixers Dig Deep and Take Game 2

Tough game on the eyes once again but the Sixers won in the end.  A strong game by Jrue Holiday and Andre Iguodala lead the Sixers.  Jrue had 18 points, 3 assists, and most importantly 1 turnover to lead the Sixers.  He had timely baskets in clutch situations and a less than ideal turnover in the next play.  His youth has a tendency to come out in the most inconvenient times but it was outweighed by his shooting and his teammates ability to step up.  Evan Turner had big buckets in the 4th quarter showing Doug Collins that he made the right decision in leaving him in the game.  Lou had arguably his best all around game in the playoffs with some decent defense, for Lou that is, on Rajon Rondo.  Rondo had his normal 13 assists.  Lou seemed to do a better job than Jrue keeping Rondo out of his normal rhythm and kept good care of the ball with no turnovers.  He played a solid 39 minutes off the bench.  The Celtics fell into deep slumps where they could not hit anything.


 Lavoy Allen played a decent all around game to contribute to some of those woes.  He had a solid all around game with 10 points and 8 rebounds.  Lavoy played solid rebound against the 14 time all star Kevion Garnett.  Garnett had another solid game, but by no means the offensive onslaught of game 1.  He had help from Ray Allen with 17 points but little else from Paul Pierce.  Pierce was defended admirably by Iguodala all night and he was hampered by an injury.  He was almost a non factor shooting 2 for 9 and scoring only 7 points.  Iguodala had a decent all around game with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.  Micheal Pietrus provided some temporary relief in the fourth but the Sixers still pulled it out.  Evan Turner hit a great driving layup at the end to put the Sixers up, then hit 2 free throws.  Followed by Jodie Meeks, who also hit 2 free throws.

This was a classic Eastern Conference playoff game and the Sixers have done well to take one in Boston.  They need to step up their shot making and take better advantage of the slumps Boston goes through.  The Sixers slip into these periods where they think it is shoot around and they decide against driving.  Evan Turner being on the floor seems to be the necessary motivation to get them outof this funk.  Collins needs to keep him in the game more in the second half with Jrue and Lou and see how that works against Boston's second unit.  Give them time and I see the Sixers in 5.  Maybe 6 if Rondo goes off for a game.  And I know this seems presumptuous but wait and see.