Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were battling for every lose ball while the supposed young spring chickens playing in front of the home squad on Friday night looked like they had spent the previous night out partying with Pat Burell.

While the Phillies were outplaying the Red Sox across the street, the Sixers put together one of the most putrid halves of playoff basketball — hell, of basketball, period — that I can ever recall. The aged Celtics who could have bottled their sweat and sold it at the Glassboro Wine Festival this weekend held a commanding 46-31 halftime lead.

The Sixers were on the ropes and sitting ducks for a nasty right hook that would have put them down for the ten count. Face it, a loss in Game 4 gives the Celtics a commanding 3-1 series lead heading back to Boston. Say all you want about how the Sixers played well in Boston. The fact is that two disastrous games in Philly would have given Boston all it needed to shut down the inconsistently feisty Sixers squad for good.

Momentum favored the Beantown Bozos.

Then, it happened.

The Sixers got hit hard and they got back up. And, now, momentum is on their side. They took the Celtics best shot and survived.

Thanks to an impressive display by streetballer Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, Lavoy Allen and Andre Iguodala, the Sixers seized control of the series. Williams, who has taken bad shot after bad shot these playoffs, turned it around. His two three-point plays down the stretch energized the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. His 15 points and eight dimes off the bench were huge.

Iggy drained two huge three-balls in the fourth quarter and showed the promise of a potential star that infuriates the Philly faithful when we don’t see it consistently. He went from goat to hero in mere seconds.

Allen looks like the steal of last June’s draft. The Temple product can flat out play against Garnett. His ten boards paced the Sixers squad.

Maybe it was the Sixers youth that gave them the edge in the end. Maybe youth can outlast basketball IQ in this series. Maybe not.

For now, at least, the Sixers are still relevant and intriguing on May 19. They have a legit shot at a birth in the Eastern Conference Finals in a wacky, wild, weird spring that has seen a path to magic open before their eyes.

Time to tape the ankles that were sprained jumping off the bandwagon around 8:30 on Friday. Buckle up and beat Boston.

– Adam Aron via Twitter

How can you not be proud of a team that opens up a rushed preseason with a 103-78 spanking of the Washington Wizards on Friday?

The 10-9-8-76ers flashed tons of brilliance and promise in the second half of last season under Doug Collins before bowing out to the Miami LeFrauds Heat in the playoffs. Apparently, a lack of a real training camp didn’t keep the squad from playing together on the court.

The Sixers were overly impressive in their 25-point spanking of the Wizards on Friday. There were many positives to take from the preseason opener.

Among the items that jump out at you in perusing the box score:

• Lou Williams and Evan Turner drop a combined 35 points in 40 minutes off the bench.
• Spencer Hawes had 14 points and nine boards in 19 minutes of action.
• Jrue Holiday dropped a dozen points and collected five dimes.
• Andre Iguodala added five assists in 20 minutes but failed to score, going 0-for-6 from the field.

That last line is scary.

The guy has been bashed in Philly for failing to live up to a contract that overpays him. He’s paid as an elite guy, but is more of a number two guy. His defense, passing ability and unselfish play makes him a commodity across the NBA. However, his lack of ability to hit the shot in the clutch — rightly or wrongly — has ruined his rep in the stands of the Wells Fargo Center.

Failing to score in the preseason opener will do nothing to help that. Granted, it’s one game — a preseason contest at that. But, zero points is zero points.

If one guy needs to come out and ball out in the team’s next — and last — preseason game, it’s Iggy. All eyes will be on him, and rightly so. The fact is, the Sixers need Andre Iguodala to be at an all-star level to truly compete for a top 4 spot in the talented Eastern Conference.

And, now, some NBAers act like they are facing the same circumstances as the rest of us. This tweet, courtesy of the New York Knicks Carmelo Anthony today:

“I just wanna apologize to all the fans for this lockout. Trust me, I feel y’all pain. This shit sucks”

Maybe this isn’t the context in which he meant. To be fair, we gave Melo the chance to clarify the tweet to us via Twitter, but he didn’t respond nearly an hour past the deadline we gave him. As a result, we’re left to interpret it ourselves.

We take it to mean that he misses the paycheck and ability to earn millions at the hands of “greedy corporate owners.” If it was just basketball, he could simply ball for fun like the rest of us.

Carmelo Anthony and the NBA ballers should set up shop with the Occupy Wall Street protestors to really show they feel like the rest of us and are truly in touch with the common fan in these economic times.

In that case, if Anthony really feels disrespected by the current economic system, he and his boys should pop a tent alongside Occupy Wall Street. Camp out and stand by those who truly feel your pain for a week. Show true solidarity. Only then will we truly believe you and your NBA brethren.

On the other hand, we’re ready to drive him to the border. The guy made one wise decision — hiring Doug Collins. Then again, was that his choice or that of Rod Thorn?

The rest of his resume is worse than Billy King’s. He overpaid to keep Andre Iguodala. He brought in Elton Brand instead of finding a way to get Josh Smith. Oh, and the Eddie Jordan fiasco was a train wreck from the start.

This guy has been living on borrowed time for the last year anyway. Honestly, Edward, nobody’s going to miss you in Sixerville.

“The worst thing in the world is a sore loser. When you compete in anything you gotta be willing to deal with the results. That’s the sign Of a true champ and a mature competitor. Not trash talking a out why a loss occurred or name calling. We all win and lose in life “not about how hard you but how hard you can get hit and keep on going…” #balboa #phillygreat

The sore losers wasnt directed at Ortiz but at the people tweeting at me cause they are mad Ortiz lost. Ortiz is a lion I also love how people talk crazy over twitter. It’s non sense and if it’s not said face to face it’s irrelevant. #growup”

Our analysis: It’s great to see Evan Turner call upon Rocky and tag him a “#phillygreat.” Way to connect with the fans. Maybe this dude is a Philly boy after all.

That was just some of the response following Saturday’s win over Victor Ortiz.

First up was DeSean Jackson, who threw his continued support to Mayweather from his hotel room in Atlanta:

“AINT NO FRIENDS IN BOXING WE DOES THIS #MONEYTEAM ya heard me!!!!!!!”

Then, we have Trent Cole who voiced many people’s opinion on the state of boxing in the United States:

“That’s not the true sport of boxing of what happen tonight.”

Of course, Shady McCoy was there to remind everyone the fight that everyone wants but may not see:

“PAC MAN “

That leads us to your Philadelphia 76ers who have nothing to do these days. Evan Turner got things started by comparing Mayweather’s big blow to that of a pop icon moron:

“Mayweather look like Ronnie from Jersey Shore season 1 #sleeponthepavement”

Turner, Andre Iguodala and Spencer Hawes then debated Money vs. Pacquiao. Iguodala then compared Pacman to a former baseball player:

“@spencerhawes00 listen fam, PAC man head grew like 4 times since he was 24! #barrybonds”

After a bit of a debate between the Sixers, Turner made the plans for the fight that will never happen:

“@spencerhawes00 @mindofai9 we all out there for the mayweather vs PAC man fight. The trip is on you dre!”

Here’s today epic win over LeFraud and his cronies.

Ah, life is good today.

On Sunday, facing elimination against Dictator James and his amigos, we had one message for the players: #Showyaheart.

Mission accomplished.

Down six with less than two minutes remaining, the raucous fans helped Will-iams the team to a win. Young guns Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams knocked down three balls, propelling the Sixers to an 86-82 win that forces both teams to take their talents to South Beach for a Game 5 on Wednesday.

Lou Williams tied Evan Turner for a team-high 17 points, including a three-point dagger in the team's 86-82 win.

Of course, no LeFraud James playoff loss would be complete without a note on his ineptness down the stretch. Down 84-82, James drove the lane with a chance to tie and — he lost the ball in the air instead of taking over like MJ or Kobe.

The Sixers jumped all over Miami to start and held a 28-16 lead after one. Then, Miami made a run to take a 48-46 halftime lead. yeah, it looked like Game 1, or even Game 3, all over again.

But, not today. Not on Easter Sunday in Our Town. Not with Our Young Guns — Holiday, Williams and Evan Turner — on the court.

Williams and Turner led the team with 17 points apiece to go with a dime and a steal each. Williams pulled in four boards, while Turner added six.

Iguodala finally showed up for a bit with 16 points, although he was fairly invisible on the offensive end down the stretch. Elton Brand added 15 and 11, while Holiday had 10 and five dimes.

Numbers aside, win aside, this team filled with a lot of young guys showed heart. Heart instilled into them by Doug Collins this year. Honestly, the team is no better off than it was two or three years ago, but we’ll explore that in blog posts later.

For now, bask in the glow of the Heat setting for a day and the heart shown by Holiday, Williams, Turner, Thaddeus Young and the rest of the squad.

Miami thrashed the Sixers 94-73. Yeah, a 21 point loss in the playoffs. That doesn’t happen often. Or, it shouldn’t.

The Heat trashed the Sixers, 94-73, on Monday to take a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 is Thursday. Yay.

Miami jumped out to a 19-13 lead after one, but the real damage came in the second frame. Miami outscored the Sixers 30-18.

When your starters account for an entire 29 points, you have no shot. If not for the bench play of Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner — yeah, that guy, remember him? — this game would have been even worse. Young dropped a team-high 18 points to go with six boards, while Turner had 15 points, an six boards.

If you want to take Turner’s play as a positive, go ahead. To me, there are no positives. The Sixers were outrebounded 46-40. And, the Heat shot 47 percent to the Sixers 34 percent. Who let Allen Iverson in the building?

Game 3 is at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday. Tickets are available. How loud will the arena rock after tonight’s performance?

In the grand scheme of things, you’d likely be happy with that considering a year ago the Sixers were on the golf course and the team started this year 3-13. Who expected them to be here, let alone play close.

Bullshit.

This team needs to do more than hang tough. Otherwise, do we really have much more hope than we did two or three years ago when they were one-and-done in the playoffs? is this really better than pushing the Magic, the eventual Eastern Conference champs, to six games?

Look, the Sixers were up 31-19 after the first quarter. Then, they let the Heat — James, Wade and Bosh — take over. Sure, the Sixers made a “valiant” comeback attempt in the fourt. But, what does that even mean?

Do I expect the Sixers to win this series? Not really. But, to be satisfied with a moral victory makes no sense at this point. If you go up 12 in the first, do not let the Heat back in it. Play tenacious D and make it your game.

The positives are the continued rise of Jrue Holiday (19 points, 5 boards, 5 dimes, 3 steals) and Thaddeus Young (20 and 11 off the bench).

The Sixers need to pull out awin on Monday and come home with a split so the Wells Fargo Center is ready for an explosion on Thursday.