SIXERS NEWS

Tonight the Sixer's hosted the Detroit Pistons at the Wachovia center, and despite yet another loss they acquitted themselves well. Considering Detroit came in with the 2nd best record in Eastern conference, while the Sixers came in with the third worst, you would think the game would have been a blowout win for Detroit. Instead, the Sixers stood their ground and kept it close until the bitter end. As always with the Detroit, it was a defense fueled night. So while four Sixers scored in double figures(Andre Iguodala, Willie Green, Andre Miller, Louis Williams) the leading scorer was Green with only 16 points. Defensively, the Sixers performed far more admirably. Samuel Dalembert led the way with 13 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Reggie Evans chipped in 11 rebounds, as the Sixers out rebounded Detroit 47-33. On the other hand Detroit took better care of the ball with only 9 turnovers to the Sixers 18, and that was really the difference. Through the 1st quarter of play the Pistons clung to a 25-23 lead. In the 2nd quarter Detroit upped its lead to 9, with the halftime score 50-41. Rather than pull away in the 3rd quarter, Detroit was forced to fend off a Sixers charge which cut the lead to 7 with the score 70-63. In the 4th quarter, the Sixers stayed firmly within 2 possessions of Detroit, but could not find the late firepower to vanquish them and finally lost 86-78. So the Sixers drop to 16-27 overall, but yes, they still remain in 4th place in the Atlantic division.