SIXERS NEWS

After a tough loss in Atlanta last night the Sixers returned home tonight to face the floundering Washington Wizards, losers of their last 3 games coming into tonight, and yet somehow still in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, as they sat in 6th place. The Sixers meanwhile, continue to be on the outside looking in and needed a win tonight to keep in touch with the 8th place New Jersey Nets. Thanks to some 4th quarter determination, the Sixers were able to do just that. Offensively, five Sixers scored in double figures(Andre Miller, Thaddeus Young, Andre Iguodala, Louis Williams, Rodney Carney) with Iggy's 20 leading the way. Defensively, it was a team effort and a good one as they held Washington to just 43.8% shooting the from the field and forced them into 19 turnovers, 11 of them steals, which came especially handy in the aforementioned 4th quarter. In the first quarter of play the Wizards eeked out to a two point lead, with the score 25-23. In the second quarter, the Wizards pushed their lead to seven, with the score 56-49. In the 3rd quarter Washington continued to front run, pushing their lead to ten, with the score 83-73. In the 4th quarter Washington pushed their lead as high as twelve. Then the Sixers suddenly came to life, scoring 12 unanswered points before taking a two point lead with just over 4 minutes to play and the score 92-90. From there the Sixers continued their late rally until they had hung on to win 101-96. So the Sixers improve to 19-30 overall and remain in 4th place in the Atlantic division, just 1.5 games behind the Nets.