Game #67- Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Indiana Pacers March 16, 2013 Wells Fargo Center Heading into the final stretch of my Philly trip. Two games down, the Flyers and Union, and now the Sixers are my final team from the last crazy 24 hours. I am glad I was here the previous night for the Flyers game because I didn’t have the energy to walk around the arena to take a ton of pictures. I started the day a 9am and tip off was at 7:30. By the time this game was over and I drove back to Baltimore I was on my 15th hour of site seeing. The 76ers are not doing well this year. In 10th place in the Eastern conference they have little chance to make the playoffs. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of fans in attendance but I found out from the father and son next to me that it was because the Pacers are in town versus Philly fans supporting the home team. But I think it was because of Julius “Dr. J” Erving bubblehead/appreciation night. Tonight’s game was supposed to be a blowout for the Pacers. They are second in the East, only behind mighty Miami, and they have a stacked roster. Lead by all-star center Roy Hibbert, David West, Tyler “Psycho” Hansbrough, and my personal favorite former UCSB Gaucho Orlando Johnson (only the second Gaucho to join the NBA), Indiana is set to make a deep playoff run this year. On the flip side, Philadelphia may be having a rebuilding year. They do have Jrue Holliday but that is about it. The Laker trade that brought Dwight Howard from the Magic also sent Andrew Bynum to the Sixers but he has been injured the entire season. All that being said, the Sixers were not to be outdone tonight. They clearly were outhustling the Pacers for rebounds and free balls, had a shooting percentage advantage (50% to 37%), and simply wanted the win more. Holliday put in 27 points and center Spencer Hawes had a great game with 18 to get the 98-91 win. Once again, as soon as the game ending I hauled ass to my rental car so I could head back to Baltimore. It is only about 100 miles away but for some reason the speed limit is 55mph our here. Crazy. Two highlights during the game. The flying trapeze bar half time show was pretty awesome, but the clear winner was the drunk guy heckling Tyler Hansbrough all night. He would scream “Hansbrough, Hansbrough, Hansbrough …YOU SUCK!” At first it was annoying, but after the 20th time not only was it funny, he had everyone around him chanting along.