Sixers-Hornets Game 2 notebook (from:http://www.phillyburbs.com/)

With Allen Iverson having a night in which he was mortal and with New Orleans
trying to bang him physically at every turn, the Sixers' frontcourt tandem of
Kenny Thomas and Derrick Coleman crushed the Hornets on the glass to give
Philadelphia command of the series as it heads south.

The Sixers have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 3 taking
place on Saturday night in New Orleans. Game 4 is Monday in the Big Easy.
Game 5, if necessary, would be back in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

With the Hornets closing quickly midway through the third quarter, Coleman
came from out of nowhere to block a Kenny Anderson layup that would have
narrowed the 76ers lead, once 17 points, to two. The lead quickly swelled to
nine after that, and the building came alive.

With New Orleans hanging around late in the fourth quarter, Coleman dove on
the floor after a Thomas miss and kicked it out to Iverson, who drilled a
3-pointer to make it 83-73 and put the game on ice with 4:17 left.

Thomas and Coleman were two points of concern heading into Game 2. Not anymore.
Both were brilliant on both ends of the floor. Thomas finished with a
double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds. Coleman's numbers were not as
gaudy (12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists), but his contributions were
immeasurable. He was diving on the floor, getting back on defense and showing
the heart that many in the league have questioned over the years.

David Wesley couldn't guard Iverson on Sunday night, and he couldn't hit the
ocean with a map offensively after an initial hot stretch in Game 2. Wesley
scored 10 of New Orleans' first 14 points in the game, fell asleep in the
middle with an 8-for-21 outing, then woke up only when the Sixers had a
comfortable lead. He finished with 24. P.J. Brown again rendered himself a
non-factor, getting in foul trouble and only scoring six points and getting
four rebounds in 28 minutes.

One of the flukiest injuries one will ever see came late in the third when
Hornets forward Jamal Mashburn dislocated his right middle finger while
getting kicked by the left foot of Eric Snow on a play at the baseline.
Mashburn has a bone chip and is day-to-day. The Hornets are already smarting
without Baron Davis (bruised left knee).

"All we did was play the game. We did nothing different than we did (Sunday
night), but when a guy was in the flow like Allen was, you keep giving it to
him. Tonight, it was our turn," Sixers forward Derrick Coleman.

In the five years the Sixers have made the playoffs under Brown, they had
never taken a 2-0 lead in a series. In NBA history, of the 152 teams which
have taken a 2-0 lead in a best of-seven series, 145 of them went on to win
the series (95.4 percent).

On Sunday night, the Sixers looked like a one-man team that was fun to watch
but doomed to playoff failure if the trend continued. On Wednesday, they had
five players in double figures and ground out a win. If the Hornets don't get
healthy in a hurry, this series could be very short.

- Kevin Cooney
April 24, 2003 10:47 AM