Great, Another Basketball Game: Sixers Visit Toronto for Ugghhhhhhh

Last night was a bummer of an NBA basketball game, for sure. The Sixers
and Nets played about level for two quarters, then the Nets decided to
play a little bit better and the Sixers said "eh, you guys have fun with
that." Unlike other bad losses the Sixers have suffered recently to the
likes of the Spurs and Thunder, where the team fought hard and were
simply outplayed by better teams, this one really seemed like the Sixers
got down, got dispirited, and just kinda gave up. I've been upset and
disappointed at various points of this Sixers season, but that third
quarter was the first one that made me downright depressed.


They get to make up for it tonight in Toronto, but let's face
it—there's no such thing as an easy or likely win for the Sixers at this
point. They're six games under .500, they were lower than the Kings and
Pistons in Marc Stein's latest Power Rankings (and not unjustly so),
and they haven't won two games in a row since November (!!). This isn't a
good basketball team, surely, though as Michael Levin of Liberty
Ballers puts it, losing tonight will mean that they're not just mediocre, but an "Eddie Jordan-level of bad." And that ain't good.

Again,
maybe it's all for the best. No good or even average team also means no
panic trades at the deadline, no hope or expectation for the
post-season, no getting beat in the first round by the Heat or the
Celtics, and no real pressure on Andrew Bynum when/if he returns to play
for the Sixers. Meanwhile, it also might mean a half-decent draft pick
come June—in a historically weak draft, sure, but that's still better
than no pick at all, which is what they'll have if they make the
playoffs. Maybe this is all as our lord Malik Rose intended.

7:00
tip from the Air Canada Centre. Oh, just in case this post was too
sunny for you as is, it's worth pointing out that if they lose this
game, the Sixers will only be one game up on the Raps—who have won 8 of
their last 11 after starting their season 4-19. ONE TWO THREE FOUR
FIVE....