With the series tied, tonight's Game 5 in Orlando is pivotal to the Sixers' chances
For an athlete, there is little that is more infuriating than learning someone wanted to play you, that someone thought, of all the options, you would be the easiest.
But that's what happened on Sunday night. Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy picked 76ers forward Thaddeus Young as the weaker of two defenders and told his players that whomever Young guarded must create.
Considering this strategy ended with a game-winning three-pointer by Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu - released in rhythm over Young - you can't fault Van Gundy's logic.
The Sixers didn't practice yesterday. But, before flying to Orlando, Sixers coach Tony DiLeo spoke about Sunday's 84-81 loss, which tied this best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Tonight's pivotal Game 5 is at Orlando's Amway Arena.
DiLeo said all the right things, such as Orlando's plan wasn't really a slam on Young but rather a compliment to Andre Iguodala.
"I take it that AI is a premier defender in the league," DiLeo said. "They didn't want to go against AI."
Orlando's go-to guys are Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. Van Gundy figured Iguodala would be on Turkoglu, Young on Lewis. Since he felt comfortable with either shooting the final shot, he set up a pick-and-roll between the two and let the Sixers defense decide the shooter.
"Thad is very grounded. I don't think it will affect Thad," DiLeo said. "It may motivate him."
Young and the rest of the Sixers are going to need motivation for the task that lies ahead: Home-court advantage, once in the Sixers' possession, has returned to the Magic.
After Sunday night's win, Turkoglu called this a "totally new series" and said his team was returning home to have some fun. A packed Amway Arena should await both teams but aid only the Magic.
How many more times, after a season filled with resiliency, can the Sixers rebound?
"Two," DiLeo said. "We're confident. We played four games, won two, could have won the other two. We've proven we can play in Orlando. . . . We're going down to win this game in Orlando."
Entering Sunday night's game, the Sixers had contained Turkoglu and Lewis, holding them to a combined 26.0 points a game, 8.5 points below their regular-season combined average. On Sunday, they combined for 34 points.
"I just thought Turkoglu was more aggressive. A lot of it was on him," DiLeo said. "Our defense was basically the same defense."
DiLeo said the Sixers coaching staff would look at a few things, see if there are any new wrinkles they could throw at Orlando's forwards and look at the aggressive pick-and-roll defense of Orlando center Dwight Howard when Iguodala dribbled off an on-ball screen.
"We were right there," DiLeo said. "It's not like they had a good game and blew us out."
Speights? Sixers rookie forward Marreese Speights, who was a nightly contributor during the regular season, has not played in the last two games of this playoff series. Yesterday, DiLeo said they will "look at that."
DiLeo said that Orlando plays Lewis, who is perimeter-oriented, at power forward, which is an awkward defensive matchup for the more interior-minded Speights.
DiLeo said they could use Speights' offense and that he would "find some way" to get him in the game.
