This could be ugly. Kyrie Irving is out again with a concussion. We thought that Anderson Varejao simply sprained his wrist in last night's game, but an MRI revealed that he had actually fractured it. Needless to say, Andy is out tonight and will be out for at least a couple weeks to come.
Song Of The Day: Funny Little Feeling - Rock N' Roll Soldiers
Tonight's Overview:
Philadelphia 76ers (18-9) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-15)
The Cavaliers are going to be without their two best players tonight and will be playing their fourth game in five nights. Just that alone would generally set the team up for a bad night but when you add the fact that they are playing one of the best young teams in the NBA, it could get reaalllly bad. The 76ers are very deep and very talented at basically every position. They play great defense and fantastic team offense.
Andre Iguodala will be a handful for Alonzo Gee tonight. He's easily one of the top 5 perimeter defenders in the league and all around incredibly solid. After LeBron, I'd say that Iguodala is the player that is the most consistent triple-double threat. He's a terrific passer and obviously a freakish athlete. If you can't tell, Iggy is one of my favorite players in the league and I'm pretty excited to watch him play.
Without Varejao in the lineup, it will be interesting to see who Byron Scott chooses to start at center. Scott has already written off the idea of starting Tristan Thompson, because he is still coming off of injury. That means it will be Samardo Samuels, Semih Erden, or Ryan Hollins. Ew.
Key Matchup:
Evan Turner vs. Boobie Gibson
Turner has blossomed into a pretty solid player. He's kind of stuck behind several other talented players on this roster, but he is able to contribute in pretty much every area. Boobie has been very good this year and played well again last night. I'll be interested to see how Boobie can score tonight, as we'll definitely need his contributions.
Fear The Sword's Fearless Prediction
I'm not feeling good about it. Feel free to call me negative and stupid if we manage to pull out a win, but I'm expecting a blowout in favor of Philly. Sixers win by a score of 109-87.