Sixers get Smoked by Kobe; Lose Brand in the Process

Kobe Bryant torched his hometown team again, scoring 32 to help the Lake-show rebound from a last-second loss with a 114-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.  Pau Gasol had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum scored 18 points for the Lakers.

Andre Miller scored 26 points and Iguodala had 19 for the Sixers, who played the entire fourth quarter and the last 4:50 of the third without Elton Brand.  Brand left early with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

The Sixers said Brand had a strained right hamstring amnd only finished with three points on 1-for-7 shooting in 25 ineffective minutes. Brand will be evaluated on Thursday.

Redeem Team Advances to Gold Medal Game

Team USA came out the gates strong, but looked quite shaky in the second quarter allowing Argentina to cut what was a 21 point lead to 9 at the half (49-40). Manu Ginobili went down mid 2nd quarter with what looked to be a sprained ankle and Argentina just wasn’t quite the same.

USA came out determined in the second half and went on a quick run and blew the game wide open and never looked back. Team USA was led by Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James who ended the game with 21 and 15 respectively.

Argentina was led by Luis Scola who stepped up big in Manu’s absence and really played a solid game ending with 28 points and 11 boards. I definitely wouldn’t mind if the Sixers could somehow get this guy.

The Redeem Team will face the Spaniards and Pau Gasol in the Gold Medal Game on Sunday.

Team USA Manhandles the Aussies

From the early going you could tell Team USA was trying to send a message to the Aussies.  On their first three possessions they went right into the post to Dwight Howard and let him go right at Australia’s best play, Andrew Bogut.  To which Bogut and Australia had no answer.

Bogut picked up two quick fouls and became quite frustrated.  On the next play down he screened Kobe hard which was soon followed by a nice quick jab from Melo to the Aussies grill piece.  Bogut wasn’t the same after, only shooting 2 of 5 from the field for 4 points and 2 boards.

Team USA was led by none other then NBA MVP Kobe Bryant.  Bryant dropped 25 points 10 of 16 from the field (4-7 from 3).  LeBron and Carmelo added 16 and 15 respectively to add to the Aussie destruction.

Up next for Team USA is the winner of Argentina vs Greece (10:15 AM ET).  Time to go watch Manu and see who will get destroyed by the Redeem Team next.

My Thoughts: GAME. SET. MATCH, world.  You could take the best players on everyone’s Olympic team and put them together and you still wouldn’t beat us.

What the Blood Clot?

As your Philadelphia Flyers prepare for game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal match-up against the Penguins, last night defensemen Kimmo Timonen, the man who was going to be primarily responsible for keeping Sidney Crosby, was lost for the series.

In game 4 against the Canadiens, Timonen blocked a shot that deflect off his left ankle and after playing in severe pain in the game 5 clincher, Timonen had a MRI earlier in the week that did not reveal the clot. But after going to the hospital yesterday, a surgeon discovered the clot. BING BANG BOOM, out for the series.

DOESN’T IT FRICKIN’ FIGURE PHILADELPHIA?

Yes I am being Neg – adelphia right now. But why should we expect anything else? Every time we get close to the promised land, something out of the blue arises. Joe Carter, Marshall Faulk, Ronde Barber, Ricky Manning Jr, Bill Beli – cheat, going against a team on a 20 game win streak in the playoffs (Colorado Rockies), Shaq and Kobe. There always seems to be something and now this.

Our best defensemen is now out for the series and the Flyers must adjust on the fly. But still feel confident Flyers fans, Derian Hatcher’s new line mate will most likely Braydon Coburn, the two of them were paired earlier in the season and were very successful together. And now look for Coburn and Hatcher to share the responsibility of shutting down Ev-gay-ni Malkin, and Sydney Cunt-sby, and look for fine results. And if Marty Biron continues on the pace he has set all post-season, although YES this loss is a huge blow, it might not quite be fatal.

Prediction: Flyers in 7 gut-wrenching games.