Sixers beat Cavs in home finale…or not

I have watched probably more Sixers games than the average fan this season, because from the start I wanted to watch this young team go through their growing pains and turn into a mature group of players that I could enjoy watching for years to come. What I didn’t expect to see was for this team to start winning, especially after Ed Stefanski took over as GM after Billy King was fired, and immediately trade Kyle Korver, a fan favorite. Yet by playing the young guys like Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams, the Sixers took to a more aggressive approach with their fast-paced offense and by playing tough defense.

So in the final game of the season, with their first playoff birth clinched in 3 years, I expected to see a tough game against Lebron James and his newly retooled Cavs. They got down at one point but fought back and took the lead. As the buzzer sounded, we were up 90-89 so I turned off TV and went straight to bed. Little did I know, the game was not over. As I was listening to WIP this afternoon, I heard Glen talking about how the Sixers lost…imagine my confusion! After listening for awhile longer I realized what had happened. Apparently there was a foul right before the buzzer sounded and Cleveland was able to shoot a few free throws. Devin Brown hit both shots and with less than 2 seconds left, the Sixers couldn’t even get off a shot to try and win the game. I guess I can’t complain because I didn’t see it, but here is an example of the instant replay hurting a Philly team, whereas in last night’s Phillies loss, NOT having the reply screwed us. It just feels like being kicked while you’re done.

But, I’m still pretty upbeat about the Sixers in the postseason. We have nothing to lose since no one expected them to be there, so I’m just enjoying the ride. Here we come, Detriot. Maybe we’ll even win a game!

On a related note, check out what David Stern said about Mo Cheeks.