Ep.27: The Kingslayers

Even though they managed to steal a win the previous game against Memphis and thus keep their winning streak alive, The Brotherhood travelled west to face a team famous for defeating the "best" teams: the Golden State Warriors. "The Kingslayers" had defeated twice the Lakers (2nd in the West), the Clippers (1st in the West) and Chicago (3rd in the East). Now they wanted to add another name to the fallen in the Oracle Arena, the hurt Philadelphia 76ers.

They don't have a bad team. Chris Mullin, Brandon Roy, Jerry Lucas, Greg Monroe and Jarrett Jack start every night, and they have bench players like David Lee, Andrew Bogut, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr.

Chris Mullin is the star and leader of
The Kingslayers

The 76ers wouldn't have an easy game at the Oracle. Added to the Warriors' offensive power, this would be the first match without Alonzo Mourning in the floor, as he was hurt in the previous game against the Grizzlies.

The start of the match was an absolute blowout. The Warriors abused the 76ers' poor paint defence, and embraced theirs thanks to Monroe, Lucas and Bogut. Allen Iverson had a good start, scoring 16 points, but the 76ers finished the first half trailing by 10 points.

But then the 76ers began to play a more cohesive basketball. Iverson took advantage of a double-team on him to spread the floor, hitting Holiday, Iguodala and Dell Curry for open threes, as all of them finished the game perfect from beyond the arc.

Soon after the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Sixers took the lead for the first time in the game. And they did their best to hold on to it. With 6 minutes remaining, the Warriors began a run that put the game within 2 points. After a missed layup by Iguodala, Brandon Roy grabbed the rebound and he went off to the other rim. But just when he was about to lay the ball in and tie the game, Jrue Holiday appeared out of nowhere and blocked his shot with force. The Warriors attemped a quick-two from the inbound, but they missed it.

Now having all the momentum, the Sixers finished the task. Iverson scored 39 and handed 12 dimes. Holiday scored 22, blocked 3 shots and made 2 steals. Iguodala scored 21, and the 76ers survived their test win a convincing 8-point win.

Post-Game Stats:

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Zoom In #3 - All-Star Weekend

- Friday

The 2013 All-Star Weekend starts with the always funny Celebrities Game. This year the NBA decided to supress the Rising Stars Challenge, as there is no real rookies other than the players drafted this season, and replaced it with two secured spectacles: first of all, the Free Agents Game, where the players who couldn't find a spot in the rosters before the start of the season face each other and compete for what could possibly become an offer by some teams. To finish the evening, the members of the 1992 "Dream Team" will play together again, and will face the team that won the gold medal in the 2012 Olympics.

- Saturday

The saturday will remain unchanged. First of all, the Skills Challenge, with 16 players competing against each other. Then, the Three Point Contest* and to finish the evening, the most hyped Dunk Contest* in recent memory.

* Participants yet to be announced

- Sunday

And finally the All-Star Game arrives. With all the legends who came back and having more than 10 players with legitimate chances of winning the MVP award, this is without a doubt the most expected All-Star Game in the history of the league.

Ep.26: Never Make Iverson Angry, Part 2

Things were once again going right for The Brotherhood. 3 of their last 4 matches were blowouts, and their team chemistry was at an all-time high. However, they would've to engage in another epic battle to keep their 6-game winning streak. Their next rivals would be Penny Hardaway and his Memphis Grizzlies.

Initially, everyone expected Penny to go back to his home in Orlando, where he was praised as the future of that franchise.

"Orlando turned their backs to me. When I was struggling with my injuries, instead of trying their best to help me, they demanded me to keep playing. They did nothing to help me recover, and when it was beyond repair, they just traded me." - Penny Hardaway

Once Orlando's leader, the furious Penny Hardaway moved
to Memphis to lead the team's quest for the championship

From the beginning it was clear that the match would be an unforgiving battle. Both teams traded baskets for a while, with none of them either being able to stablish a solid defence. The fans were prepared for a high-scoring match, as both teams finished the first quarter with 32 points.

The second quarter was completely different to the first. The second units were not as productive as the starters. The offences stagnated but not because of a better deffensive quarter, but because of the low accuracy of the bench players. However, Danny Green nailed an amazing buzzer-beater on Dell Curry to give the Grizzlies a 1-point lead heading to the second half.

During the third quarter, the Grizzlies completely outplayed The Brotherhood. The Sixers started to pile up turnovers while Penny Hardaway, Paul Pressey and Marc Gasol took off. By the quarter's half, they were up by 10 points.

But then something clicked. First was Jrue Holiday, who nailed a contested 3. Then was Dorell Wright, with a corner three. Even though they still were down by 6 points, the Sixers had all the momentum heading to the last quarter.

However, the Grizzlies responded well and the 6-point lead grew to a 12-point lead. The Sixers looked defeated. Although, suddenly Iverson, who "only" had 22 points, made a play and nailed an off-the-dribble shot. Then he hit a corner three. Then he posterized Zach Randolph.

During the game's last 7 minutes, the Sixers went from losing by 12 to win by 5, all thanks to an epic comeback lead by Allen Iverson, who drop 25 points in less than ten minutes. The Grizzlies were completely dried out. The Sixers hold on to their lead and finally, with an Iverson's clutch steal on Hardaway, the Sixers sealed the deal.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.25: Christmas Special

One of the most expected nights of the season finally arrived: the christmas day special. And of the five games that would take place that day, one of those is the Lakers-Knicks duel, a match full of history on both side, with Magic Johnson, Karl Malone and Shaquille O'Neal playing against Clyde Drexler, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed.

The game began and the New York Knicks were the first to throw a punch. They began a 12-2 run within the first 6 minutes of the match, and took a convincing lead thanks to Lou Hudson's great offensive performance. However, Gail Goodrich hit a contested three and only a few seconds later, Elgin Baylor made an amazing poster on Josh Smith. The momentum had changed.

During the first quarter's last minutes and the beginning of the second, Magic Johnson commanded the Lakers' comeback efforts. They managed to bring the game back to a single-possesion game, but then Clyde Drexler made a jumper, then stole the ball and made a fantastic fast-break dunk.

Even though they started the second half losing by 7, the Lakers didn't give up. Antawn Jamison hit a crucial three-pointer over Hudson, and then Shaquille O'Neal made an important block on Willis Reed. Again, Elgin Baylor was the Lakers' most dangerous weapon, as he made 5 consecutive shots, including 3 jumpers, to give his team the lead for the first time in the game.

During the fourth quarter, the Lakers absolutely destroyed the tired Knicks and got away with the victory, important to keep the chase for the Clippers alive. Both Magic Johnson (23-11) and Karl Malone (15-10) ended up with a double-double. Clyde Drexler was the match's max-scorer, with 26 points.

The Knicks' crisis continued with yet another loss, while the Lakers immediately started to prepare their next match, wishing to keep alive their chances at the top spot of the conference.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.24: The Logo and The Rookie

The 2012-13 season would be the first one for the historic Nets on Brooklyn. However, and because of their bad last few seasons, it was really difficult for their management to find legendary players who wanted to play for them. That's why their team mostly has current players, like Brook Lopez, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson and Lou Williams.

But their first key acquisition wasn't in the free agency, like most of the other teams. It came during the Draft. Terry Washington is a 7'1 athletic center, with an outstanding college career in UCLA. Everyone projected Terry to be selected in the Top 5, until he sustained a horrible injury: in a freak accident, his body completely landed on his wrong-positioned right leg, breaking it almost immediately. Teams were not willing to draft another Greg Oden, so Washington's value plummeted to the second round, being drafted by Detroit and later traded to Brooklyn. But when "Age Away" was announced, the lucky ones were the Nets: although being a rookie, Washington suddenly was again the center who dominated the NCAA.

Having Washington in their roster gave Brooklyn's project a high value in the future, and thus Jerry West and Bob Dandridge signed with them. Doc Rivers and Byron Scott were recluted by "The Logo" and also signed with the team.

Jerry West is the leader of the young Nets team

The Brotherhood wasn't expecting a tough match. The Nets had been in the back of the standings during the whole season. But the Nets caught them by surprise: Bob Dandridge was a nightmare for Andre Iguodala, as he scored 12 points on him only in the first quarter. Iverson had a slow start, so the first twelve minutes finished with Brooklyn up by 6.

In the second quarter, Philadelphia's bench responded well. Nick Young had his best shooting night since he was traded, scoring his first three field goals attemps. Dell Curry also contributed with his 3-point shooting, scoring two in a row in the closing minutes of the half. However, Dandridge and West managed to survive the storm and the Nets still had a 3-point lead.

But from the third quarter onwards, it was Allen Iverson's show. 25 points in 24 minutes, plus 5 assists, helped Philadelphia to recover the lead and to close a match that was closer than what it should've been.

Iverson scored 31 points, Mourning 17, Nick Young scored 13 off the bench, Holiday scored 12 and Iguodala 10. Thaddeus Young struggles with his new found starting spot continued today, as he only scored 8 points in 32 minutes. On the Nets side, Dandridge also scored 31 points. West scored 18, Lopez 11 and Lou Williams scored 10 points off the bench. Terry Washington had a very inconsistent night. He only played 18 minutes and scored 2 points. 

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.23: Flying High

Even though they didn't have a great start of the season, the Atlanta Hawks are one of the fans' favourite teams, mostly thanks to Dominique Wilkins, considered to be one of the most athletic dunkers the league has ever seen.

When healthy, the Atlanta Hawks started Dominique Wilkins alongside Doug Collins, KC Jones, Al Horford and Paul Millsap. However, during the last weeks, many of their players, including Horford, fell victims to injuries. Thus, "Nique" would be alone when his team had to face the Philadelphia 76ers.

Dominique Wilkins came back to Atlanta
to lead the team's efforts to reach the playoffs

The Hawks never stood a chance. The Brotherhood started the game with the objective of putting the game out of reach for the Hawks from the beginning. Even though they had a 10-point lead, Wilkins managed to single-handedly short that disadvantage, finishing the first twelve minutes 5 points behind.

In the second quarter the Sixers' bench totally outplayed Atlanta's. Lead by Dell Curry, who had his best shooting night in the season so far, they outscored the Hawks by 11, as their players were not being effective in the field and were absolutely shattered in defence.

Wilkins came back to the game and with him, the Hawks started a run that cut Philadelphia's lead to single digits. But again Allen Iverson returned to the court and slowly brought back his team's lead. The Hawks won the quarter by 3, but they would start the last twelve minutes being down by 13 points.

And in the last quarter they plummeted. Iverson, Mourning and Iguodala led a 16-2 run, and confirmed Philadelphia's supremacy. The final score was an ashaming 103-75, one of the worst loses for Atlanta so far.

Philadelphia's score was distributed between Iverson (27), Mourning (14), Curry (12) and Iguodala (10), while Wilkins was the only Hawks' player to score double-digits, finishing the game with 30 points but only 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.22: Never Make Iverson Angry

The Philadelphia 76ers slowly recovered from the three consecutive loses. Before their match against Houston, The Brotherhood had beaten Indiana, Los Angeles and Dallas, but no team promised a harder battle than the Rockets, relying on their big-three with Hakeem Olajuwon, James Worthy and Rajon Rondo.

Even though the Rockets had some difficult times at the early stages of the month, they recovered themselves and a victory against Philadelphia would put the team above 50%. This was Houston's best chance, as their rivals were missing an important part of their team: after trying to play through his injury, Serge Ibaka finally gave up and would miss two weeks.

Hakeem is the leader of the new Rockets' squad with Worthy,
Rondo, Doug Christie and former partner Otis Thorpe

From the start of the match, the Rockets were clearly superior. with Rondo controlling the game's pace, Olajuwon and Worthy overcame Philadelphia's defence and gave the Rockets a 7-point advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The Brotherhood was unresponsive: they scored only 12 points in the second quarter, and totally succumbed to Houston's offence, lead by an unstoppable James Worthy. But then something finally happened the 76ers' way: Dell Curry nailed a buzzer-beater 3-pointer, and the Sixers would start the second half 17 points behind, but with crucial momentum.

And then the game transformed into an Allen Iverson show. Starting the half with "only" 20 points, Iverson played out of his mind, locking down Doug Christie and absolutely ashaming Houston's defensive efforts. Slowly, Iverson brought the Sixers back to the game: the fourth quarter would start with Houston leading by 9.

Even though the Sixers' coach tried to give Iverson some rest, he insisted: he played the game's last 20 minutes, and slowly reached to a historic performance: 74 points. The Rockets were absolutely dried out and gave up with 2 minutes remaining. The Sixers took the lead and it only grew.

The final score was 117-107, and Iverson's legendary performance was noticed by everyone. It looks like it doesn't matter what. Allen Iverson will win the Regular Season MVP.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.21: The Revenge

Only weeks before, the Dallas Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers faced each other for the first time in the season. Back then, the Mavericks defied the odds and beat The Brotherhood by six points. But this moment, Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning and the others were ready to take revenge.

The five players who started the game for Dallas were the same who a few weeks ago had beaten the Sixers: Mike Conley, Jeff Hornacek, Mark Aguirre, Dirk Nowitzki and Brad Daugherty.

Dirk Nowitzki is the leader of the Dallas' team

The Brotherhood learnt about their previous mistakes, so they tried to hit as soon as possible. And they did: lead by Allen Iverson's efforts, the 76ers finished the first quarter leading by 10, a lead that grew as the match kept going.

The Mavericks tried to respond during the second quarter thanks to their good second unit. Chris Kaman lead the efforts scoring 10 points and grabbing a few rebounds. However, the Sixers' bench reacted quickly and thanks to some baskets made by World B. Free, The Brotherhood went to the half with an 11-point lead.

The bench kept being the Mavericks' best resource. Thanks to "The Matrix", Shawn Merion, the texans were able to bring the game back to a one posession game. But again the 76ers answered, this time lead by the Holiday-Mourning pick and roll.

The great display of offence and the lockdown defence allowed the Sixers to start the last quarter with an unreachable 19-point lead. But Allen Iverson was yet to make his greater impact. In an effort to avenge their heart-braking loss two weeks ago, AI continued to drop 52 points on Hornacek, thus giving the Sixers the definitive 30-point lead.

Meanwhile the Mavericks tried to repeat their strategy of the previous game between them and The Brotherhood, this time they encountered a tightened defence, as their max-scorer was Mark Aguirre with only 13 points. Dirk Nowitzki also had his worst game so far in the season, as he scored 8 points and shot 4-11 from the field.

On the other side, the 76ers also had to make some sacrifices in order to be sure that they would win this game: half of the team did not score a single point, as the 109 points spread only between Iverson (52), Holiday (17), Mourning (16), Iguodala (14), World B. Free (8) and Dorell Wright (2).

Post-Game Stats:

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