Last night was a full slate of action for Philadelphia sports fans, with the Phillies, Sixers and Flyers all playing at about the same time. However, by the time the night was over, it was one of the worst sports nights of the year as all three teams ended up taking bad looking losses. I've already posted my thoughts about the Phils, but I've got a little bit to write about the other two losing teams from last night.
For the Sixers, a loss against the Celtics isn't really unexpected, since Boston has the second best record in the Eastern Conference, but what the 17 point loss does do is move the Sixers down towards the New York Knicks in the battle for either the sixth or seventh seed in the East. The Knicks have won four in a row, and are starting to gel after the Carmelo Anthony trade, while the Sixers have dropped their last two and five of their last ten games.
Don't get me wrong, the Sixers have surprised a lot of people this year. With two more wins, they'll clinch their first winning season since the 2004-05 season, and that's something that no one thought could happen this year, especially after this team lost 55 games last season. Elton Brand is actually looking like the player the Sixers spent all that money on, and Thad Young is really stepping his game up of late. Jodie Meeks has been a very pleasant surprise, and while Evan Turner is looking a bit like a bust, when he does get extended playing time, he's not too bad. Last night was one of those situations, as Turner led the Sixers in scoring with 21 points off the bench.
The Sixers have already clinched a playoff spot, but can they win an opening round series against the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics? The popular notion is that they can't, and I'm just about to side with that, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible. They might not win their first round matchup, but they'll scare whoever the hell they end up playing. Last night's loss not withstanding, the Sixers usually play very well against the top teams in either conference. Remember, this is the same team that held the San Antonio Spurs, the best team in the NBA, to 71 points not that long ago. While the odds of them beating Boston or Miami in a seven game series are going to be very high, it should at least be fun to watch. Think of this team like the Oklahoma City Thunder from last year. The Thunder scared the hell out of the Lakers in the first round, and they're even better this year. The same thing could happen with the Sixers.
The Flyers are making me slightly more nervous, and with good reason. There seems like there have only been two outcomes for the Flyers of late, and those are to lose in regulation or lose in a shootout. Last night was more of the same, as the Flyers dropped a 5-2 game on the road to the Ottawa Senators. If just losing the game to the 14th ranked team in the East wasn't bad enough, the loss dropped the Flyers out of first place in the Eastern Conference and cut their lead in the Atlantic Division to just a single point over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers can still clinch the division with a win and a single Pittsburgh loss, but right now, this team is getting dangerously close to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, which seemed almost impossible just a month ago.
The Flyers have done little to impress lately, save for a huge 5-2 win over the Penguins in their final matchup of the season. The loss of Chris Pronger is still being felt, and the power play has been almost invisible lately. The Flyers have converted on only 16.6% of their chances throughout the season, and that number is even worse of late. The defense has been non-existant at times, and both Brian Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky have been struggling as well. Bobrovsky has been the real question mark, losing six of his last ten starts, even though some of those haven't been his fault.
Even with the questions in goal, the Flyers have just as many issues on the offensive side of things. Yes, they have six players with 20 or more goals on the season at the moment, but that doesn't do this team a single bit of good right now. Kris Versteeg was brought in to make the offense even better, but the offense has actually gotten worse since the trade that brought him to Philadelphia. Against teams that they should beat, like Ottawa and Atlanta, the Flyers can't get going on offense. They've missed chance after chance, and with the problems on defense, those missed chances are coming back to hurt them. Whether they come in the form of a poor power play or turnovers in the offensive zone, opposing teams are now doing what the Flyers did for most of the season: they're making the Flyers pay for each mistake.
The season isn't lost though, not by any stretch. The Flyers are still one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, and with just two games to play in the regular season, can clinch the division with a win and a loss by Pittsburgh. The Penguins play their next game against the Islanders on Friday before closing out their season with one last game against the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday. The Flyers play a potential playoff opponent in the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, then finish things with a game against the Islanders on Saturday. If they manage to fall to the fourth seed, expect to see even more panic from the Philadelphia fan bases.
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