Wachovia Center was one of the toughest home arenas to conquer this season, with the Philadelphia 76ers posting an extremely high winning percentage there.
Before today's Christmas Day Games began, people believed that even if the Grizzlies won, they would have to endure a brutal battle in this devilish home arena.
Yet Wachovia Center was now lifeless, completely devoid of the joy and festive atmosphere one would expect on Christmas night.
No matter how one looked at it, this was not the reaction fans should have in the middle of a fierce battle.
Because the fierce battle had ended long ago.
With only two minutes remaining, the Philadelphia 76ers were already down by 23 points to the Grizzlies.
In the eyes of many fans, the moment Joel Embiid was ejected, this game had effectively lost any chance of becoming competitive.
After all, the biggest attraction of this game had been the cross-boundary showdown between Embiid and Link!
No... it was because after Embiid left the floor, the 76ers simply did not have enough strength to compete with the Grizzlies.
Link was sitting on the bench now, having already put up 34 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists.
By comparison, Embiid had scored only 6 points today, while Simmons had 15 points and 5 assists.
Philadelphia's hopes of rising, the two budding stars fans had placed such high hopes on, became utterly insignificant in front of Link.
In truth, that was the real reason Philadelphia fans were so lifeless now.
They were not dejected because of the enormous deficit, nor because Embiid had been provoked by Link like an idiot and gotten himself ejected.
It was because Philadelphia fans had practically suffered a "dimensionality reduction strike."
The 76ers' "Process" simply could not bear fruit in front of Link.
Last season, Philadelphia