The Philadelphia 76ers once again suffered another tough loss in what appeared to be a very winnable game against the visiting Indiana Pacers, 111-103. The Sixers were out scored in three of the four quarters dropping their record to a mediocre 15-23 (10-7 at home).
The Sixers had a total of seven players finish with double digit points, led by Jrue Holiday’s team high 19. Most of the time when a team has that many players with double digits in the points column they end up on the winning side. However the Sixers were never able to recover from an early seven-point deficit in the first quarter.
“We were in an uphill struggle all night…We were just flat,” 76ers head coach Doug Collins said. “We had zero, zero energy and we got so far behind.”
However this game was more than just the 38th game of the season for the 76ers, it marked the return of Andre Iguodala. Iguodala returned to the Sixers starting lineup after missing the previous seven games with tendonitis in his right Achilles’. For the most part Iguodala was tremendously ineffective and appeared to lack explosiveness when driving to the basket. He shot a dismal 0 for 7 from the field and finished with only one point, seven assists and four rebounds.
“I felt fine, I was just trying to play basketball,” said Iguodala when asked if he felt rusty on the court. “I just didn’t make any shots, plain and simple.”
Although Iguodala says he felt fine on the court, it was obvious that he was not the same player he was before the injury.
“Where you’re rusty at is offensively,” said Collins. “That’s where you really feel it when you’ve been out that long. You just don’t have any feel or any touch for the game.”
Iguodala’s one point production Tuesday night was his lowest point total since scoring one point on the road against the Houston Rockets during his rookie season (12/4/04).
“It is what it is,” said Iguodala. “It was a tough loss and that’s more important than anything else. The guys have been playing hard. So hopefully that will continue and we’ll get a win.”
The Sixers next chance at a win will come Friday night when the Milwaukee Bucks visit the Wells Fargo Center. Currently the Sixers are a ½ game behind the Bucks for the 8th seed in Eastern Conference playoff standings.
