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Sixers lose control of Pacers' house By PHIL JASNER
jasnerp@phillynews.com
INDIANAPOLIS - The editors wanted everything in early because of election returns. The 76ers cooperated. They were done by roughly 9:20 last night. They lost in a landslide.
Stop us if you've heard this before, but they were outshot and outrebounded, only this time they had no antidote. Stop us again if you've heard this before, but for the second game in succession Chris Webber and Samuel Dalembert sat out the fourth quarter, only this time the two starting big men were out for the final 19 minutes, 39 seconds.
With 100 percent of the precincts in, the Indiana Pacers were 97-86 winners in a race that ceased being competitive in the second quarter. The Sixers, who trailed by as many as 25 points, were beaten by at least 20 rebounds for the second time in four games, this time by 52-32; despite being barely outshot overall (45.1 percent to 44.6), they wounded themselves with a 6-for-24 second quarter in which they were outscored, 31-13.
They came in 3-0 for the first time since 2000-01, and didn't look anything like a team with that record.
"I was just hoping guys weren't feeling like, 'Yeah, we're going to lose one sooner or later,' but it just definitely didn't have to happen tonight,'' Allen Iverson said after shooting 8-for-22 and handing out only three assists. "It'd be crazy to think you're going to win all 82 games, but it didn't have to happen tonight. It was a game we could have won.''
Down 64-47 with 4:48 left in the third quarter, Iverson yelped, "Come on, we ain't goin' home yet. We ain't goin' anywhere yet.'' Sadly, that exhortation fell on deaf ears. The Pacers placed all five starters in double scoring figures, with Jermaine O'Neal at the head of the class, contributing 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Rawle Marshall came off the bench to score 16 points, while backup big man Jeff Foster took 10 rebounds; Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley combined for 11 assists, five fewer than all of the Sixers.
"If we approach it like, 'Tonight we're just going to come out and go through the motions,' we're going to have a long season,'' said Iverson, who insisted he wasn't ready to suggest that was what had just happened. "We've got to approach every game like we approached the first three, trying to win every game. You've got to play like you're trying to win every single game.
"I know we didn't play as hard as we could have played as a team. I don't want guys to feel like we have to lose a game. You have to feel like you're a good team. It's all right to be a good team. I know things haven't been going well around here lately, especially last year, but last year is over.
"[You've] got to feel like you're a good team. Don't get paranoia; don't get antsy. Just feel like you can win. Don't think it's a big deal when you win a basketball game. We can win. We have the capability of winning basketball games. We've got personnel to win basketball games, and you've got to approach it like that.''
Coach Maurice Cheeks lamented his players taking "a lot of quick shots, resulting in [the Pacers] getting up and down, shooting a lot of layups.''
"That's where our defense broke down,'' he said. Later, he said, "We've obviously got to do a lot better rebounding the ball.''
Webber, showing a new look - bald, sans headband - put up a diplomatic front, saying, "It's not one point. You just have to give them credit.''
"As a team, we're 3-1; we've just got to keep plugging away,'' he said. "For me personally, it's just staying focused, staying professional, playing hard.''
Asked whether it was a concern that they twice have been beaten on the glass by at least 20, Webber said, "It's like, yes and no. Only four games, yes. But only four games and it's been twice, no.
"It's something I'm sure we'll address, and we have to do it by committee. The more rotations you're doing, the less likely guys are going to be in position to rebound and know where shots are coming from. When you know where shots are coming from, you can pretty much gauge where [the rebounds will be].''
But even in a landslide loss, there has to be a measure of perspective. (In politics, that might be termed spin.) So here was Kyle Korver reporting in with a bit of analysis.
"Obviously, tonight did not go the way we wanted it to go,'' he said. "But we're 3-1. If we had said at the beginning of the season we'd start off 3-1, we all would have said, 'All right, we'll take that and we'll go from there.' That's the way we've got to look at it.''
Sixers lose control of Pacers' house By PHIL JASNER
jasnerp@phillynews.com
INDIANAPOLIS - The editors wanted everything in early because of election returns. The 76ers cooperated. They were done by roughly 9:20 last night. They lost in a landslide.
Stop us if you've heard this before, but they were outshot and outrebounded, only this time they had no antidote. Stop us again if you've heard this before, but for the second game in succession Chris Webber and Samuel Dalembert sat out the fourth quarter, only this time the two starting big men were out for the final 19 minutes, 39 seconds.
With 100 percent of the precincts in, the Indiana Pacers were 97-86 winners in a race that ceased being competitive in the second quarter. The Sixers, who trailed by as many as 25 points, were beaten by at least 20 rebounds for the second time in four games, this time by 52-32; despite being barely outshot overall (45.1 percent to 44.6), they wounded themselves with a 6-for-24 second quarter in which they were outscored, 31-13.
They came in 3-0 for the first time since 2000-01, and didn't look anything like a team with that record.
"I was just hoping guys weren't feeling like, 'Yeah, we're going to lose one sooner or later,' but it just definitely didn't have to happen tonight,'' Allen Iverson said after shooting 8-for-22 and handing out only three assists. "It'd be crazy to think you're going to win all 82 games, but it didn't have to happen tonight. It was a game we could have won.''
Down 64-47 with 4:48 left in the third quarter, Iverson yelped, "Come on, we ain't goin' home yet. We ain't goin' anywhere yet.'' Sadly, that exhortation fell on deaf ears. The Pacers placed all five starters in double scoring figures, with Jermaine O'Neal at the head of the class, contributing 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Rawle Marshall came off the bench to score 16 points, while backup big man Jeff Foster took 10 rebounds; Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley combined for 11 assists, five fewer than all of the Sixers.
"If we approach it like, 'Tonight we're just going to come out and go through the motions,' we're going to have a long season,'' said Iverson, who insisted he wasn't ready to suggest that was what had just happened. "We've got to approach every game like we approached the first three, trying to win every game. You've got to play like you're trying to win every single game.
"I know we didn't play as hard as we could have played as a team. I don't want guys to feel like we have to lose a game. You have to feel like you're a good team. It's all right to be a good team. I know things haven't been going well around here lately, especially last year, but last year is over.
"[You've] got to feel like you're a good team. Don't get paranoia; don't get antsy. Just feel like you can win. Don't think it's a big deal when you win a basketball game. We can win. We have the capability of winning basketball games. We've got personnel to win basketball games, and you've got to approach it like that.''
Coach Maurice Cheeks lamented his players taking "a lot of quick shots, resulting in [the Pacers] getting up and down, shooting a lot of layups.''
"That's where our defense broke down,'' he said. Later, he said, "We've obviously got to do a lot better rebounding the ball.''
Webber, showing a new look - bald, sans headband - put up a diplomatic front, saying, "It's not one point. You just have to give them credit.''
"As a team, we're 3-1; we've just got to keep plugging away,'' he said. "For me personally, it's just staying focused, staying professional, playing hard.''
Asked whether it was a concern that they twice have been beaten on the glass by at least 20, Webber said, "It's like, yes and no. Only four games, yes. But only four games and it's been twice, no.
"It's something I'm sure we'll address, and we have to do it by committee. The more rotations you're doing, the less likely guys are going to be in position to rebound and know where shots are coming from. When you know where shots are coming from, you can pretty much gauge where [the rebounds will be].''
But even in a landslide loss, there has to be a measure of perspective. (In politics, that might be termed spin.) So here was Kyle Korver reporting in with a bit of analysis.
"Obviously, tonight did not go the way we wanted it to go,'' he said. "But we're 3-1. If we had said at the beginning of the season we'd start off 3-1, we all would have said, 'All right, we'll take that and we'll go from there.' That's the way we've got to look at it.''
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