Thaddeus Young helps Sixers close out the Spectrum with a win

I think Thaddeus Young wouldn't mind keeping the Spectrum open for a while longer. Young exploded for a career-high 31 points as the Sixers beat the Bulls, 104-101, in the final Sixers game at the Spectrum, which will be torn down later this year.

Also playing well for the Sixers were Andre Iguodala, who had 25 points, 6 boards and 5 assists, Samuel Dalembert, who grabbed 19 rebounds, and Andre Miller, who had 13 points to go with 13 assists. Despite the solid effort by Young, who also had 5 boards, the Sixers still barely squeaked by the lowly Bulls, although they led for pretty much the entire second half until a late charge by the Bulls made it close.

So ends the Sixers era in the Spectrum. They first played in the Spectrum in 1967 and recently moved over to the Wachovia Center in 1996. The Spectrum will still be used by the Phantoms for the remainder of their season, but after that it will be torn down to make room for a restaurant and shopping complex that will hopefully rejuvenate the area around the stadiums.

For a kid who saw his first basketball game in the Spectrum in the mid-80's, I will certainly have fond memories of the stadium, but I'm not going to get emotional when it gets torn down. Stepping into the Spectrum now feels like going back in time. We won't ever forget the championships won at the Spectrum, of course, but hopefully we can make some new memories of titles over at the Wachovia Center.

So long, Spectrum!