Coach Maurice Cheeks is from the Larry Brown school of coaching match-ups. If the opponent puts a big lineup on the floor, Brown and Cheeks almost always respond with a big lineup. If the opponent goes small, Brown and Cheeks typically go small.
But in Sunday's 89-81 win over the Warriors, Cheeks broke away from that mindset and it paid off for the Sixers. When Golden State coach Don Nelson went to a small, quick lineup, Cheeks opted to go big. Elton Brand (23 points, 12 rebounds) and Samuel Dalembert (eight points, 16 boards) dominated inside, especially on the glass. "Sam and Elton allowed us to continue playing those two 'bigs' out on the floor and (try) to force them to put another 'big' out on the floor, as well," Cheeks said.
Brand admitted it was difficult chasing the athletic, 6-foot-6 Corey Maggette around, but the flip side was Maggette couldn't prevent Brand from getting into the basket area or to the boards.
"Coach said, 'Hey, you and Sam, bang them on the boards. They're going to try to out-quick us, (so) you get back, contest their jump shots and stay in front of them,'" Brand said. "You'll see Sam Dalembert had 16 rebounds and that's because coach believed in the 'bigs.'"
Cheeks tried pairing Brand and Dalembert several times against the Bobcats' smaller power forward/center combinations Monday, but the Sixers were unable to take advantage of their size advantage this time.
BOBCATS 93, SIXERS 84: The Sixers, winners of five of their previous six, had a tough shooting night and didn't defend very well, either. They shot .395 from the field and .188 from three-point range. Charlotte, which came into the game as the league's lowest scoring team, hit .548 and .571, respectively.
The Bobcats snapped a four-game skid despite just 21 points and 16 rebounds from the starting frontcourt. The Sixers' starting frontcourt wasn't much better, combining for 32 points on 11-for-30 shooting and 21 boards.
