Words and pictures by Colin A.J. Murphy

Sit To My Lou: Lou Williams looked relaxed during pregame warmups, and the smooth 76ers guard went on to score 31 points in Team Philly's 131-122 victory over Team Melo in Philadelphia on Sunday.

The latest edition of this summer’s nationwide trend of wildly entertaining, player-organized exhibition games hit Philadelphia on Sunday, as NBA superstars Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Paul and the rest of Anthony’s Baltimore-based ‘Team Melo’ squared off against Philly’s best—a.k.a ‘Team Philly’—at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in a matchup dubbed “The Battle of I-95”. Team Philly rolled out a roster featuring city native Hakim Warrick, 76ers guard Lou Williams, Houston Rockets guard and former Villanova Wildcat Kyle Lowry, and the Sacramento Kings’ Tyreke Evans, and much to the delight of a revved-up capacity crowd, Team Philly upended Melo’s collection of stars by a score of 131-122. James led all scorers with 43 points, but the duo of Lowry (34 points) and Williams (31 points) packed enough punch to earn their squad a victory.

“It was fun man. Just a night in the gym with the fellas,” said Williams after the contest, displaying the characteristic childlike love for the game so many of the players have demonstrated throughout this summer’s string of exhibitions. “And on top of that, we win. We got bragging rights now, so nobody can take that from us. You could tell from our tempo when we came out, here in Philadelphia, we’re not trying to get embarrassed. You know how these fans get.”

Chris Paul never quite got it going against the spry defense of Lou Williams, and Team Philly beat Paul and Team Melo 131-122

To be sure, the fans made it quite clear that they weren’t there just to see some of the world’s best players put on a show. James was greeted by a chorus of boos as soon as he stepped on the court, and the crowd continued to hound visiting Team Melo as they cheered their Philadelphia squad. After three scoreless possessions by Team Melo to start the game, a thunderous alley-oop slam dunk by Warrick sent the crowd into hysterics and put Team Philly on a wave of momentum they would ride for the remainder of the half. Philly built a double-digit lead just minutes into the first quarter, extending the margin to as much as 19 in the first half, and they were able to fend off Anthony’s 31 points and Team Melo’s second half charge to put away the win.

“Right now, after beating that team, we got to be the champs,” said Warrick with a smile after the game. Asked if Team Philly could beat any team in the country, Warrick was happy to entertain the possibility of facing other cities’ best ballers. “We’re taking on all challengers, but they’ve got to come through Philly. Whoever’s next has got to come through us.”

LeBron James led all scorers with 43 points, but it wasn't enough for Team Melo to overcome Team Philly's energy and home court advantage.

The game comes just days after the NBA announced the postponement of training camp and cancellation of the first week of preseason games due to the lockout and ongoing labor negotiations. Throughout the summer the players, for their part, have made the best of a less-than-ideal situation by putting on several showcases like the one on Sunday in Philadelphia both as a way to stay in shape and keep their competitive edge as well as to do what they can to tie the country’s basketball-hungry fans over in the event of a prolonged lockout.

“If the NBA was on schedule, this game and the game at Morgan wouldn’t have happened,” said the San Antonio Spurs’ Gary Neal, who played on the Melo Squad, after the game. “It’s a unique situation with the lockout that gives us a chance to showcase our abilities in the cities where we’re from. So I just think it’s NBA guys making the best of a lockout situation.”

GAME NOTES

The players weren't the only ones putting on a show at The Palestra.

• It was clear from the beginning of the game that Team Philly held the favor of the referees. The spectacular alley-oop finish by Warrick in the opening minutes was accompanied by a foul on a Team Melo player, and as if the crowd wasn’t already going nuts on its own, the referee emphatically performed the “count-the-bucket” motion not once, not twice, but three times, complete with his own personal ‘do-the-twist’-style dance move, sending the crowd into a hilarious frenzy. When making out-of-bounds calls throughout the rest of the evening, the referee would frequently bust out his shimmy before pointing in Team Philly’s direction, drawing laughs from the crowd. Though the referees still called a mostly fair game, Anthony, Paul, and James did not seemed to be amused, but given that the ref immediately won the crowd over in the game’s opening moments, there wasn’t a whole lot they could do about it.

• Josh Selby’s freakish athleticism has been discussed on this blog before, but it warrants mentioning again that seeing him play up close is amazing. His drives to the basket are incredibly aggressive, and in the open court he skies to the rack. It wouldn’t be surprising if, after spending significant chunks of his summer playing alongside James, Anthony, and Paul, Selby takes a big step forward in rounding out his game in the upcoming season (whenever that happens).

Josh Selby on the floor...

...and Josh Selby off the floor.

• Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams both had great games for Team Philly. Lowry hit a handful of jump shots and was aggressive driving the ball to the basket. Williams hit an array of jumpers and knifed his way to the basket in the open floor and out of the half court set. He also did a great job defending Paul, several times poking the ball away to either disrupt the Team Melo offense or create a turnover.

• It was an unusual time of year for The Palestra to be fully packed for a basketball game, and the unexpected wrinkle of the game was that the gym was incredibly hot. Lowrie and Warrick both made mention of it after the game, and it seemed like fans and media members were all sweating along with the players.

• Aside from the Warrick dunk in the first quarter, Tyreke Evans drew the largest response from the crowd, not just once, but twice. In the fourth quarter, Evans showcased his ball-handling wizardry with an insane fury of crossovers on Gary Forbes before driving to the hoop, drawing a foul and finishing the layup. On the next possession he practically hypnotized Forbes with a slow back-and-forth dribble—rather reminiscent of this scene from The Jungle Book—then used another burst of crossovers to shake him to the ground—Forbes literally stumbled backwards—and Evans simply held the ball and stared at him for a moment before taking a 16-foot jump shot. It didn’t matter that he bricked the jumper; the damage had been done and the crowd ate it up.

You're getting sleepy, Gary Forbes. Verrrry sleeeepy...

• The full roster for Team Philly was Kyle Lowry, Tyreke Evans, Hakim Warrick, Lou Williams, Jason Thompson, Mark Tynsdale, Aaron “AO” Owens, Mardy Collins, John Salmons, Wayne Ellington, and Ronald “Flip” Murray. The full roster for Team Melo was Chris Paul, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Gary Neal, Josh Selby, Donte Green, and Gary Forbes.

• Click here to see a slideshow of this game and other NBA exhibitions from this summer.

• Return to the Voice Sports Blog in full for more summer NBA exhibition coverage.

• To see highlights of this game and many more, visit The Mars Reel.

• Fans of the Wizards/Bullets, be sure to check out the D.C. blog Truth About It. For additional national NBA news, columns, photos, and features, visit Hoopspeak.

• Contact Colin Murphy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; follow him on Twitter @ColinAJMurphy