Thursday Jan 19 Game 45: Philadelphia 76ers (28-16) @ Portland Trail Blazers (21-23)

ExplosionsInDaSky · Post #1 » by **ExplosionsInDaSky** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 1:37 am

Dame has been hot! It's been years since I've started a game thread and this will probably be my only one of the season.
One of the very first games I ever watched us play was against the Blazers. It was 1990 I believe, and Portland was rolling at the time. They were one of the hottest teams in the league. We went into their building and beat them by a point 110-109 on a Derek Smith shot. Yeah..Derek Smith...I don't remember him beyond that. I know his son Nolan Smith played at Duke and also had a brief stint in the NBA. Either way, Portland has always given us trouble over the years. I don't know why, but I've always enjoyed it when we play them. I think it's their cool uniforms/logo that I like. Also...Portland is just a hard team to dislike.

I think this one has Damian Lillard written all over it. Don't be surprised if he hits for at least 40 points tonight. He's been loco lately and has shown no signs of slowing down. There was talk last year that he had fallen off of a cliff from an athletic standpoint. That is clearly not the case as he's having one of his best seasons ever as a pro.
Lillard isn't the only one capable of torching us tonight. Anfernee Simons has some game too and that guy can fill it up quickly. We also can't forget Jerami Grant. A haunting from him is also most likely as that always seems to be the case with former Sixers (We get Simmons next week). Another very likeable player that they have is Josh Hart. Don't be surprised to see him impact this game heavily as well. Josh Hart is the dream fit small forward that we can only dream about seeing in a Sixers uniform. Sadly, that opportunity knocked and passed quickly as do all the good ones with this franchise. Either way, that's what we have to contain. We've been on a hot streak ourselves lately. We won impressively over the Clippers the other night and while Lillard and Simons are flame throwers from deep, Portland still has no answer for Joel Embiid. Also...Tyrese Maxey...I look for him to have another big game tonight. Nobody on Portland can stop the young apprentice.

Post #2 » by **DaVoiceMaster** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 1:58 am

And Nolan Smith played for Portland.

Simons and Grant have been inconsistent. You just never really know what you're gonna get from those two anymore, particularly Simons.

76ciology · Post #3 » by **76ciology** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 2:18 am

DaVoiceMaster wrote:And Nolan Smith played for Portland.

Simons and Grant have been inconsistent. You just never really know what you're gonna get from those two anymore, particularly Simons.

Whats the plan for Blazers? Seems like ur team is looking to trade assets (i.e Simmons and Sharpe) for win now players to play with Dame, Grant and Nurkic.

Mik317 · Post #4 » by **Mik317** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:02 am

Dame is the type of guard we have guarded very poorly this season with our drop coverage....going to be a long one if that trend continues

Negrodamus · Post #5 » by **Negrodamus** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:19 am

Tobias and Matisse for Dame Lillard. We might be giving too much.

Murray_17 · Post #6 » by **Murray_17** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:27 am

Simons with the Melton finish around the rim

Murray_17 · Post #7 » by **Murray_17** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:29 am

Portland looks bad, i get the Simons/Lillard combo isn't that different than Cj/Lillard but this roster looks a lot deeper than other iterations of the Lillard's teams

HardenGoat · Post #8 » by **HardenGoat** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:34 am

Great start again by Maxey. Harden is content setting up Embiid and going for the assist title. That pick n roll is cooking.

Arsenal · Post #9 » by **Arsenal** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:34 am

Great start. Maxey off the bench is rolling.

Murray_17 · Post #10 » by **Murray_17** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:37 am

Some team has to bite on getting Matisse? no? no?

HardenGoat · Post #11 » by **HardenGoat** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:37 am

I like the Thybulle on Lillard gameplan. Don’t let him breathe.

HardenGoat · Post #12 » by **HardenGoat** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:40 am

Murray_17 wrote:Some team has to bite on getting Matisse? no? no?

Rather keep him. Probably be a korkmaz trade to reset the tax and then go for broke next year.

HardenGoat · Post #13 » by **HardenGoat** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:41 am

Wow. Stifling defense so far.

ivysixer2000 · Post #14 » by **ivysixer2000** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:42 am

Arsenal wrote:Great start. Maxey off the bench is rolling.

Since he chose to come off the bench its been fire.

I really didn't think he would accept the role, dad's a coach, so its very good for us this year.

Murray_17 · Post #15 » by **Murray_17** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:42 am

Lillard's Passing reaching Embiid status

Arsenal · Post #16 » by **Arsenal** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:43 am

ivysixer2000 wrote:
Arsenal wrote:Great start. Maxey off the bench is rolling.

Since he chose to come off the bench its been fire.

I really didn't think he would accept the role, dad's a coach, so its very good for us this year.

Balances our lineup perfectly. Get more D in the starting lineup, and unleash Maxey's offense on inferior backups.

Mik317 · Post #17 » by **Mik317** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:44 am

will be a close game in the 3rd

but good start

Murray_17 · Post #18 » by **Murray_17** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:45 am

The Blazers are having troubles to score against a Harrell/Niang/Maxey unit....

Negrodamus · Post #19 » by **Negrodamus** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:45 am

Damn, this Blazers team is ass. Can’t wait for us to go ice cold and they push it to overtime.

Sixteen · Post #20 » by **Sixteen** » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:47 am

Maxey to bench...gotta give doc credit, even though it was the obvious move to make. Team looks better with the move