Surprising Sixers set to make playoffs
PHILADELPHIA -- Allen Iverson might expect the standing ovation that awaits him when he returns to Philly for the first time in 15 months. What should amaze him is how the team he left in tatters when he was traded is set for a postseason berth for the first time in three seasons.
After all, the Sixers are even surprising themselves.
Picked to finish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia (33-34) instead is playing its best basketball of the season and earned a comfortable hold on the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers entered Monday only one game behind Washington for the sixth seed and are two games in back of Toronto for fifth with 15 games left. They hold a 4½-game lead on Atlanta and New Jersey for eighth place.
"I think we still are surprising people, but I think they understand we come to play every night," coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Some of the things that we're doing, it is kind of surprising."
Last week's 4-1 record included road wins against Milwaukee, Central Division-leading Detroit and a gutsy comeback at the United Center. The 76ers rallied from an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to upset the Bulls on Friday, then returned home the next night and knocked off the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.
Philadelphia's 1 loss came to the NBA-best Boston Celtics, and they managed to tie that game at 44-44 after opening the game in a 15-0 hole.
"We try and keep the pressure on teams every night," Cheeks said.
Cheeks admits that it's natural to watch the scoreboard and check for results of the teams ahead of Philadelphia in the standings. The Wizards' games have even been on the big screen in Philadelphia's locker room after the game, with the players openly rooting for them to lose.
"You can't help it," Cheeks said.
The Sixers are chasing their first playoff berth since 2005 and are within a game of .500 for the first time since they were 2-3 on Nov. 9. Philadelphia is 17-6 since Jan. 26 and has won nine of its last 10 at home.