50 is a Big Number

50 points. The Sixers lost to the Houston Rockets by 50 points last night. Fifty. What is this, high school girls basketball? NBA teams don't lose by 50. At home. I don't care if the Rockets are really good and surging (6-2) now that the Chinese Tom Brady is back. There is no excuse for losing by 50, even if you are a Philadelphia sports team.

I didn't watch much of the game, but let's recap some interesting numbers, shall we? The Rockets got out to a 21-6 lead, from which the Sixers clearly never recovered. The Rockets outrebounded the Sixers 54-36 and made 7 more three pointers than Philly. The Sixers were a whopping 27 for 80 from the field. 27 for 80! They missed 53 shots! That is hard to do. And here's the real doozy: the Rockets had 54 points in the paint. The Sixers - (WARNING: those with weak stomachs, stop reading now) - eight. Eight points in the paint. Compared to 54. That my friends, is a beatdown.

All I can really say is that it's good to see the Sixers returning to their midseason form with the hopes to land Oden or Durant. They had won 8 of 10 coming into this game and were on the verge of making the playoffs in the pathetic Eastern Conference. This would cost them their first round pick. And yes, they would still have Denver's and Dallas', but Denver looks like a playoff team and Dallas will have the last pick in the draft because there is no way in hell anyone is beating them in a 7 game series in June. Forfeiting a lottery pick for the right to get thumped by Detroit or Cleveland in the first round is NOT a good idea.

Still, this is Philadelphia and Billy King is still in charge, so I am prepared for the worst. When the Sixers lose to Dallas in the Finals and Andre Iguodala breaks his neck in triple overtime of a tragic game seven loss, don't say I didn't warn you.