Even though they were down 3-2 in the series, you had to feel as if the Sixers had the Magic right where they wanted them in Game 6. Dwight Howard, Orlando's best player, had been suspended, and Courtney Lee, their surprising rookie, was out for the rest of the series. The game was in Philadelphia, and the crowd was hungry to see the Sixers take the series to a Game 7. No problem, right?
Well, without their big man on the inside, the Magic shot the lights out from the outside all night, finishing the game with 12 three pointers and shooting 53% from the field in a dominating 114-89 victory to end Philadelphia's season. Andre Miller finished with 24 points, and Andre Iguodala added 20, but it wasn't even close to good enough tonight. Each of Orlando's starters finished in double figures in scoring, led by Rashard Lewis' 29 points. The Magic also had 14 more assists than the Sixers, which obviously led to their high field goal percentage. Orlando will now play either the Bulls or the Celtics in the next round, while the Sixers will be just like the rest of us, sitting at home, watching the games on TV.
In a way, this series was a microcosm of the entire Philadelphia season. When Elton Brand came into Philadelphia during the off season, he was supposed to push the Sixers to that elite level of the Eastern Conference. People thought the Sixers could hang with the likes of Cleveland, Boston and Orlando this season. Instead, Philadelphia's fast paced offense wasn't a good fit at all for Brand. Coach Maurice Cheeks was fired, and Tony DiLeo took over. As this series started, people weren't expecting much, but the win in Game 1 made people think the upset could happen. A win in Game 3 only furthered this belief, and you could feel the momentum going the way of the Sixers, just like the good feelings when Brand signed this off season.
From there, though, it was all downhill. The Magic took Game 4, then went back down to Orlando and won Game 5 and finished the Sixers off tonight. Again, this was like the end of Philadelphia's regular season, after the Sixers clinched a playoff spot. Those last two weeks of the season were painful to watch as the Sixers basically gave up after clinching a playoff spot. Should they have continued to play their hearts out? Of course, but it didn't seem like they were. That was the same feeling I had watching the last three games of this series. The Sixers had the Magic right where they wanted them. They were up two games to one, with Game 4 in Philadelphia. Who knows what happens if they manage to win that game? Instead, they got complacent, just like at the end of the regular season.
Now, the season is over. Where do the Sixers go from here? Obviously, they have to figure out what to do about Tony DiLeo and whether or not they want to keep him on as head coach. At this point, I think it might be best to keep him around. The team certainly responded to him once Cheeks was shown the door, despite the end to the regular season, and it's clear that he knows how to run the fast paced offense that the Sixers are meant to run. The next question comes thanks to Andre Miller's expiring contract. Miller is the only major player on the Sixers to become an UFA this off season, and the Sixers have to decide whether to keep him around for the next few seasons, or place Lou Williams into the starting lineup. I like Lou Williams, but I still have some questions about him. However, I'm also not sure that the Sixers are going to be willing to offer anything substantial to Miller, especially with all the money that they tied into Elton Brand last off season. That is my other concern: what do they do with Elton Brand? Clearly, the first year of his time in Philadelphia was a disaster, and the Sixers have him for another four years.
The only problem with that is that his contract is so large that no team in their right mind would accept a trade for him, so it looks like the Sixers will be stuck with him. While that might not be a bad thing, it seemed as if trying to put him into the Philadelphia offense seemed like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole...it just didn't work. They're going to have to try to do something next year, or the fans are going to turn on Brand very quickly. We Philadelphia fans to not take kindly to players that we think aren't earning their money.
For now, the only thing we can do is sit back and wait. The Sixers have a good young core, with Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams, Marreese Speights, Sam Dalembert and Willie Green, but it seems like they might still be one or two players away from reaching that upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. If they can't get the players that fit, or Elton Brand continues to be a disappointment, it looks like the future is only going to hold more of these same playoff series in the near future. It's time for the Sixers to get past this phase of their development. It's time for them to win a playoff series next season.
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