NBA games of the week: The Sixers are peaking
By Chazz Scogna
The NBA games of the week are brought to you by our favorite tagline in the NBA: Trust the process.
Work with me for a moment. Have you ever seen or read the story Holes? It was a 1998 book adapted into a movie in 2003. It’s one of my favorite stories as a preadolescent teen.
The gist of the story is a kid named Stanley Yelnats — Stanley Yelnats backwards — is wrongfully accused of a crime, but, in lieu of traditional juvenile time, is sent to a desert to work hard labor by simply digging holes. The point of digging turns out to be a mission set forth by the warden to find the buried treasure of an infamous outlaw, Kissin’ Kate Barlow, whose call-sign was a kiss on the cheek of the men she killed.
A subplot to the main story is Stanley’s family is cursed due to Stanley’s great-great-grandfather’s impudence toward a fortune teller, whom he asked for help in winning his love’s hand in marriage. The fortune teller gave him a task, which would culminate in his carrying her over a mountain. He does everything but carry her, and she places a curse on his family forever.
However, *spoiler* the curse on Stanley’s family is unknowingly lifted when Stanley carries a weakened Zero, who turns out to be the descendant of the fortune teller, over the same mountain some 100 years later.
So what’s this have to do with anything, particularly the Sixers? Well, if you haven’t noticed, the fortune of Philly sports has hit an oasis since Feb. 4, when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Their win synonymous with lifting the curse over the city, who starved for a football championship and a stretch where all the teams perform well.
Since then, the Flyers muscled their way into the postseason race and the Sixers are 17-5, with only one loss at home. Of course there are no curses in sports, but it’s fun to think better days are ahead for a city’s fanbase who witnessed their teams come up just short so many times. (Is my fandom leaking too profusely?)
Here are the games of the week, inspired by the team who isn’t the one you want to face in the first round.