By Craig Fields
For the first time in 59 days Philadelphia 76er fans have something to celebrate. Yes a victory. An actual victory. Whew! That was a close one eh fans? The 76ers were so close to owning the dubious historical record of most consecutive losses in the NBA. That is a record no one wants to be a part of. Now whether or not this team should go down historically as one of the worst teams in NBA history is still up for debate. They have many things to fix before they can think about contending in the weak Eastern Conference.
Their defense is porous. As a team the 76ers give up 110 points per game which is good for worst in the league. They are ranked 28th in the league in opponent field goal percentage at 46.9. They rank in the bottom third in opponent 3 point field goals percentage at 37.2. They are pretty much awful in every category of defense. Their offense, while better, is not much better. They average a little over 99 points a game. While you may think that number is pretty good, keep in mind that if your defense is giving up 110 points, you will not be winning a lot of games.
Now with that being said, this group of NBA individuals managed to put it all together for one night. One night that will not go down in history, but will instead go into the win column. The 76ers managed to not only beat the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night, but they thoroughly dominated them.
They won the game 123-98. Young and Carter-Williams both had 21 points each to lead the 76ers down the path of victory. A path that this team has not traveled since January 29 when they defeated the Boston Celtics with a buzzer-beater.
Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings was ejected in the first quarter of the game. That may have had something to do with the Detroit loss. However, it is hard to see or really know the impact that Jennings would have had in this one.
The 76ers showed up with a team focus, effort, and hustle that looked as if they did not want to own the record of most consecutive losses by an NBA team. Who knows, maybe if they continue to play with that same sense of urgency they might even get on a win streak.