Saturday 20 February 

This was a strange game between the D-league teams linked to the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. 

The Sevens (the nicknames of the Delaware 87ers) had set up a kids zone alongside the court and for out of the game there was a large crowd of children and their parents in that area. This area had inflatables for the children to play on. As a result I’m not sure how much of the game the children actually saw.

The cord that were sat, supposedly watching the game, did not seem that interested in the game. There was little recognition for good plays from the Sevens, no chants of defence. There was a crowd of away fans and they were definitely supporting their team. 

The Red Claws took an early lead and they were able to maintain this for the entire game. The Sevens were not playing well, but the interesting thing was the high fouls count for the Red laws. Given the performance from the Sevens they did not need to foul them to prevent them from scoring. 

The high fouling from both teams made the game feel slow, as the insistence of the referees to review calls.

At times it felt that the referees did not have control of the game. This was especially true in the early period of the third quarter. A technical was called on the Sevens, with no explanation. The enraged coach walked on to the court seeking his explanation. I’ve seen this result in coaches being made to leave the game. In this occasion it resulted in a time out.  Presumably the referees were acknowledging their original mistake but it was not the way to maintain control. 

People started to leave at the beginning of the fourth, making a quiet venue even quieter. 

In the end the Red Claws won convincingly 132 – 107.