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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Ep.20: Rivalry

The league had two main forces, one in each conference. In the east, The Brotherhood, with their unselfish style and great talent. In the west, the loaded Lakers, with a "Dream Team" which included Magic Johnson, Karl Malone and Shaquille O'Neal.

Because the Lakers and the 76ers were expected to see each other in the NBA Finals, this match had everybody's attention. No one wanted to miss the opportunity of watching Magic Johnson against Allen Iverson, Karl Malone against Serge Ibaka and Shaquille O'Neal against Alonzo Mourning.

Magic Johnson was the captain and leader of
the Lakers' "Dream Team" with Shaq, Malone, Goodrich and Baylor

But the match was far from what the people expected. Willing to witness an authentic clash of titans, the fans were taken aback by the Sixers' undeniable dominance over the Lakers.

The Los Angeles' team couldn't do anything to stop The Brotherhood. Their offence was completely shut down by the Sixers' deffensive efforts, led by Andre Iguodala's lockdown on Elgin Baylor.

And while the Lakers were struggling to score on the Sixers' deffence, the Sixers were completely destroyed the Lakers' deffence. Iverson scored 34 points, Iguodala scored 13, and Alonzo Mourning scored 12 while grabbing 12 rebounds.

Meanwhile the Lakers' failed misserably against their rivals, the Clippers took this as an opportunity to put even more ground between each other. The Deron-Griffin-Robinson trio won their match and are now 2 games ahead of their counterpart.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.19: Lights On

After losing three games in a row, The Brotherhood felt the pressure of winning their next match in order to avoid a greater crisis. But the rival wasn't easy. After letting their best player, Danny Granger, go away, the Indiana Pacers managed to sign three legends: Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing and Dennis Rodman.

Their starting lineup also features Muggsy Bogues and Monta Ellis, and they have Gilbert Arenas, Roy Hibbert and Grant Hill coming off the bench. The Brotherhood would need a great effort if they wanted to win this match.

Once rivals, Bird, Rodman and Ewing teamed-up in Indiana
looking for another ring

The Pacers hit first with Monta Ellis. Ashaming Jrue Holiday's deffensive capabilities, he scored 12 points only in the first quarter, which ended with the Indiana team leading by 5 points.

During the second quarter, the Sixers team remained unresponsive. This time led by Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing, the Pacers managed to take a 14-point lead going to the halftime. Being dominated in every aspect, it was looking like The Brotherhood would take another loss.

But then Allen Iverson happened. After scoring a season-low 15 points before the half, he scored 32 points and gave all his 9 assists in just two quarters. The Brotherhood slowly returned to the match, and they managed to finally tie the game with 6 minutes remaining in the last quarter.

It was at that moment when Jrue Holiday finally step up. Even though he had finished the first half without scoring any points, during the last minutes of the third and all the fourth quarter he scored 12 points to help Iverson's efforts.

The Pacers couldn't respond in time, and they found themselves in the free throws game, being down by three, hoping for a miracle. A miracle that almost happened, as a Larry Bird's clutch 3-pointer tied the game. Although, Iverson answered quickly with a 3 of his own, which was the only one he scored in the entire match.

In the end was a 3-point differencial. Although losing in almost every aspect, the Sixers defied the odds and took a win out of Indiana. The crisis wasn't over, but ending the losing streak was the first step to return to the winning path.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.18: Into The Darkness

This were hard times for the Philadelphia 76ers. After their win against the Celtics at home, they started a road trip which had really bad results: first, a tough loss in the second game against the Celtics. Then, the second straight loss again the Pistons, this time in a tense low-scoring match.

It wasn't the same scenario for the Bulls though. They won every single match after their loss at home against the 76ers, and they were ready to take revenge. But this time they made themselves sure that nothing could stop them.

Scottie Pippen went off in the games before their
rematch against the Sixers

It was a close game from the beginning. Each time the Sixers scored, the Bulls responded. Every time the 76ers seemed to run away, the Bulls came back. During this time, two players had already step up for their teams: Allen Iverson and Scottie Pippen.

After the half, the match started to become phisical. Iverson struggled with the Bulls' defence while Kendall Gill began to thread the 76ers' chances of winning. During the third quarter, both Gill and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led a 15-3 scoring run, thus entering the last quarter with a 9-point advantage.

The Broterhood's hopes relied on Allen Iverson. Although, the Bulls' defence was forcing Iverson to take contested jumpshots, as the paint was too toughly defended. AI missed four 3-pointers in a row, all of them answered by fast breaks. Slowly, the match slipped away from the Sixers' hands, and the Bulls were closer to the win.

Nothing was enough. Iverson's 33 points, Mourning's double-double, Holiday's 5 assists, Ibaka's 10 rebounds. The Bulls outplayed The Brotherhood and handed them their third straight loss.

Rumours began to spread. Was Nick Young's trade a mistake? Should the 76ers make another trade? Never. These bad games only made the players get closer between each other, and the 15 of them were ready to another battle: Larry Bird's Indiana Pacers.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.17: Defending Home

Less than a month ago, the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers clashed in what was one of the most intese games so far. And that's why the whole league was excited for the rematch between Bill Russell and Allen Iverson, this time in Philadelphia.

After an amazing performance in the first game against the Celtics,
Iverson was ready to repeat that 57-point game

The Brotherhood dominated the start of the match. The Iverson-Iguodala connection proved to be deadly for the Celtics' defence. After scoring 20 points combined in the first quarter, the Sixers were leading by 9 points.

The visitors tried to respond. Their bench unit, lead by Tayshaun Prince and Dennis Johnson, brought the game back to a one possession game. But the Sixers' bench again managed to "stop the bleeding." Lead by World B. Free, the team tied the quarter 24-24 and kept the 9-point advantage alive.

With the starters back on the court, the Celtics vanished again. Chris Paul was left alone against the Sixers' offense, and sooner than later, the home team had a 15-point lead. Although, Paul Pierce and Chris Paul scored four consecutive 3-pointers, giving the visitors a chance to win the game.

However, Allen Iverson again step up in the last quarter, scoring 19 points in 12 minutes. The Celtics' efforts to contain the 76ers were in vain, and they gave the game up with around 5 minutes left in the last quarter. Iverson completed his 42-point performance. Iguodala ended up with 20 points and Alonzo Mourning scored a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The third match between the two teams would be only 24 hours later, this time at the TD Garden. This could be the Celtics' last chance to prove the world that they weren't a bust.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.16: The Return

Although they had won four of their last five games, something was wrong with the 76ers' squad. Yes, they enjoyed great chemistry, as all their stars were playing with only one objective in mind: the Finals. Although, the management though that something was missing.

A consistent problem with the team was their 3-point efficiency. Although having great long-distance shooters like Jrue Holiday or Dell Curry among others, the management was thirsty for a 3-point specialist. And they found him: although risking to affect their team chemistry, they decided to trade George Lynch to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for sharp-shooter Nick Young.

Former Wizards player, Nick Young was enjoying a lot
of minutes with the Wolves after Jerome Kersey's injury

Destiny wanted that the first match of Nick Young with a 76ers jersey was against the Timberwolves. The Minnesota team was struggling to win as an important player of their team, Jerome Kersey, was still injured. All the weight of the team's offence fell on Gerald Green and Jason Kidd. Nick Young would come off the bench, but the other player involved in that trade, George Lynch, would be a starter, since now he was the Wolves' best available small forward.

The match was a blood-bath. Allen Iverson instantly took the lead of the 76ers' offence. He was absolutely unstoppable. When the first half ended, AI had played 19 minutes and had scored 41 points. Because the match was already out of range for their rivals, Iverson wouldn't return to the game.

The bench took the relay: Dell Curry scored 12 points, Thaddeus Young socred 10 and JJ Barea scored 7 on a season-high 14 minutes. However, Nick Young struggled to produce in his new team and only scored 5 points in 11 minutes and shooting 2-4 from the field.

On the Timberwolves' side, only Gerald Green and Aaron Gray enjoyed a good game. Mitch Richmond finished with a season-low 10 points, Chase Budinger had one of the worst matches in his career, as he shot 3-9 and 0-3 from the 3-point line, and Jason Kidd ended up with no points after he missed every single one of his six field goals attemps. In his first game with the Wolves jersey, George Lynch only scored 4 points in 22 minutes after missing 3 of his 5 shots.

For The Brotherhood, only time would tell if the decision of trading away Lynch would be a success or not, but for the time being, they had to focus in their next match against the Boston Celtics.

Post-Game Stats:

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Ep.15: A Clash of Kings

Probably last summer was the best for a Chicago Bulls' fan, when a medical lab announced the release of "Age Away." This could mean that the team's current star, Derrick Rose, could recover quickly from his last injury and that he wouldn't need to sit out for the entire season. But it also meant that probably the best player of all time, Michael Jordan, would return home.

Well, not exactly. Although the Bulls retained Rose and signed Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan turned down Chicago's offer.

"It was difficult for me to turn down the offer they (the Bulls) made me. I have to be honest, I would give everything to play one more day with that jersey, but at the same time I have some unfinished business. Ten years ago I promised a ring for a city, a ring that I couldn't bring. Thus, this season I'm going to play for the Washington Wizards" - Michael Jordan

With "The GOAT" out of the team, another member of "the olympus of basketball" wanted to join the Bulls: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Not willing to return to Milwaukee, nor sharing team with Shaquille O'Neal in Los Angeles, he signed for the Chicago Bulls and instatly formed one of the most feared teams in the league.

Once a rival, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the new
hero of the Windy City

However, their start of the season wasn't as good as they were expecting: first, some chemistry issues, and then the lack of bench depth, made really difficult to the Bulls to win some important games, and because of that they were 5th in the Eastern Conference by the time they had to face one of the best teams in the league: The Brotherhood.

It wasn't the best moment for neither of the two teams. Although winning their previous match against the Bobcats, "The Brotherhood" still had some doubts about their bench after the poor performance most of them displayed in the humiliating loss against the Mavericks. In the other hand, the Bulls were returning home after a disastrous road trip, in which they lost 4 out of 5 games.

The match started and from the first play it was clear that this could be one of the best face-offs of the season. Both teams traded baskets for a while, until the Bulls managed to begin a 16-5 run near the end of the second quarter, relying on Kendall Gill's explosiveness. The match headed half-time with the Bulls leading by 7.

But then, the 76ers' defence readjusted and all the responsibility of leading the comeback fell on Iverson. And he didn't dissappoint: 33 points in 24 minutes, plus 2 rebounds, 7 assists and a clutch steal to Kendall Gill, that lead to the play that tied the game.

With 5 minutes to go, the game looked as if it could go to overtime. However, World B. Free came in for Jrue Holiday and lead the team's final effort: thanks to his energy, the tired Bulls' defence fell apart and, with less than 2 minutes remaining, they were down by 5. They tried to come back, but it was too late: after the free-throws game, the Sixers won the game by 7.

Post-Game Stats:

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