Andrew Bynum and Evan Turner will be at the Wells Fargo Center floor tonight. He will likely play in the Eastern Conference Finals, and who knows, he could be an x-factor off the bench if the consensus matchup against the Heat takes place like many think it will. After all, the standings dictate that way.
If one were to read that opening lede in the summer of 2012, any Philadelphia 76ers fan would have been thrilled with that news. But boy have so many things changed in the past 20 months.
Tonight’s game between the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers is a great representation of how different things are. Many expected the Sixers to be in the spot the Pacers are in right now, challenging the “Not one, not two, not three, not four…” Miami Heat for runs to the NBA Finals. After getting Bynum, the core of Jrue Holliday, Turner and Thaddeus Young were supposed to be guiding the Sixers there.
Well, not one of them is here anymore. In fact, Bynum and Turner, who now play for the Indiana Pacers, will likely reach the conference finals and the Sixers probably won’t for maybe four more years. Maybe, if their rebuilding plan works. But this game serves as a great reminder of how much is different, and how fast things went south following the Bynum deal in August 2012. For those keeping score, the other player acquired in that deal, Jason Richardson has appeared in our injury report every single game this season. Things haven’t gone so well.
Game Notes:
- Bynum already made his initial homecoming in November with the Cleveland Cavilers, and scored four points in 18 minutes. There were over 15,000 fans in attendance that night booing, and given the Sixers’ recent slide, that crowd likely will not be matched. So Bynum will have it easier, you could say in his homecoming.
- According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Philadelphia will release Lorenzo Brown before the game. Brown averaged 2.5 points in 26 games this season, all with the 76ers.
- Part of the Evan Turner deal, LaVoy Allen has not played in six of his nine games with Indiana. Figuring a blowout is bound to happen, you would think he might see some time in mop-up duty tonight.
Starting Lineups:
Indiana:
PG- George Hill
SG- Lance Stevenson
SF- Paul George
PF- David West
C- Roy Hibbert
Philadelphia:
76ers:
PG – Michael Carter-Williams
SG – James Anderson
SF – Hollis Thompson
PF – Thaddeus Young
C – Henry Sims
Injury Report:
Brandon Davies (finger), and Nerlens Noel and Jason Richardson (knee injuries) will not play. For Indiana, Andrew Bynum is not expected to play with no given reason, so figuring for rest and C.J. Watson is questionable with an elbow injury.
Prediciton:
This one isn’t close. Pacers destroy Philadelphia 120-84.
