NBA.com 12/4/10: Sixers-Bobcats Postgame Notes
Bobcats-Sixers notebook
By Aaron Bracy, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday December 4, 2010 11:51PM
THE FACTS: Jodie Meeks scored a career-high 26 points, including 20 during a 5-minute, 11-second stretch in the first quarter, to lead the 76ers to a 109-91 win over Charlotte at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.
The Bobcats scored the first basket of the second half to pull within nine points, 56-47, but never got closer the rest of the way.
Five Sixers scored in double-figures, including Elton Brand, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds to give him three double-doubles in his last four games. Thaddeus Young chipped in 20 points.
Boris Diaw led the Bobcats with 19 points. Stephen Jackson added 18, and D.J. Augustin and Kwame Brown had 12 points each.
Bobcats coach Larry Brown and forward Gerald Wallace were harsh in their criticism of their team after the game.
QUOTABLE: “He was like a flame thrower out there.”
– Sixers head coach Doug Collins on Meeks
THE STAT: Meeks scored 20 points in a span of 5:11 in the first quarter.
TURNING POINT: The game was tied 6-6 early when Meeks hit his first 3-pointer, giving Philadelphia a 9-6 lead with 7:17 left in the quarter. With 2:06 left in the first quarter it was 32-11 Sixers after Meeks drilled his sixth 3-pointer in as many tries.
QUOTABLE II: “You can’t win in this league if you don’t have 15 guys playing hard. We don’t play together, don’t move the ball and don’t defend.”
– Charlotte head coach Larry Brown
QUOTABLE III: “It was like we don’t trust each other on either end. We look like an AAU team.”
–Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace
TURNING POINT II: The Bobcats got within nine points early in the third quarter and were within striking distance for much of the period before six straight Philadelphia points — on a Meeks 3-pointer, an Andre Iguodala dunk and a Lou Williams technical free throw — gave the Sixers their largest lead, 84-62, with 43.7 seconds left in the third.
HOT: Meeks, making his second career start, tied Allen Iverson‘s floor record for points in the first quarter with 20. Meeks made his first six 3-pointers, finishing 6-for-7 from the arc and 7-for-9 overall. Meeks entered Saturday averaging 7.3 points on the season.
NOT: Bobcats forward Wallace had his streak of double-figure scoring games snapped at four, after tallying eight points on 3-for-10 shooting. Wallace entered Saturday averaging 17.5 points, to go with 9.3 rebounds, in his last four games.
FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Brand owners may want to keep the Sixers forward in their starting lineup. Brand had 15 points and 10 rebounds, marking his sixth double-double of the season and third in his last four games. Brand had seven double-doubles in 76 games last season.
ROOKIE WATCH: Sixers guard Evan Turner, the No. 2 overall pick, struggled in his second straight game coming off the bench after starting the previous 12. He was scoreless with two rebounds, one assist and one field-goal attempt in 11 minutes.
REMEMBERED: The Sixers held a moment of silence prior to the game for sportswriter Phil Jasner, who died Friday at the age of 68 due to cancer. Jasner, a 2004 inductee into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame who covered the Sixers for the Philadelphia Daily News for the last 29 years, was remembered prior to the game by both head coaches. “He was a real reporter,” Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. “He talked about the game, didn’t get caught up in a lot of stuff. He was great to me; he’ll be missed.” Sixers coach Doug Collins welled up while recalling Jasner, saying “He’s a throwback guy, a guy who loves the sport, the fact-checker of all-time.”
NOTABLE: The Sixers play five of their next six at home, where they are 5-4 this season. … The Sixers snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bobcats, while Brown fell to 6-3 as Charlotte coach against the Sixers. … Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson (knee) missed his 11th straight game. … Bobcats forward Boris Diaw has scored in double-figures in seven of his last eight games. … Charlotte center Kwame Brown set a season-high with 12 points. … Meeks tied Kyle Korver‘s arena record for 3-pointers in a game by a Sixer.
UP NEXT: For the Bobcats, Tuesday vs. Denver, Friday @ Indiana, Saturday vs. Boston. For the Sixers, Tuesday vs. Cleveland, Thursday vs. Boston.
