The Philadelphia 76ers hope that the Boston Celtics don’t wake up and get better in time to catch them in the Atlantic Division. As such, Sixers fans like myself were encouraged when the Celtics looked ready to implode and end the era of the Big Three. But now we might have the Orlando Magic to blame if Boston finally finds a way back into contention.

The Celtics needed a big boost to stop the bleeding and fuel them into getting back to normal. They may have gotten that twice over at the Magic’s expense, after holding them to 56 points on Jan. 23 and then overcoming a 27-point deficit in Orlando on Jan. 26.

At first, their rematch looked comical as the Magic got more points over the Celtics in the first half than they did in the entire game at Boston days earlier. Going up by as much as 27 points early on was a ridiculous reversal, but it is more likely to happen in this post-lockout chaos – and so is coming back from 27 points down to win by 91-83, it would appear.

The Celtics started chipping away at the Magic in the third quarter and then made them look as pathetic as they did days earlier. Orlando only managed eight points in the fourth quarter and 25 in the second half altogether, as Paul Pierce and E’Twaun Moore both outscored the Magic in the fourth by themselves with 10 points each. Even without Rajon Rondo or Ray Allen, the Celtics were still made to look like the champions of old.

Boston seems to have gotten better even without its one young superstar – or at least that is how Orlando made it look. The Magic had looked like surprise contenders that could possibly keep Dwight Howard around before this week, while the Celtics appeared to be on their last legs. Both possibilities may still be true, but if anything can help propel the Celtics out of their early struggles and become a factor again, these two victories can.

Boston is still only 8-9 and remains 3 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for first place. Yet considering that the Sixers are finally about to face a string of tough opponents soon, the Celtics might have found a ray of light just in the nick of time. The rest of the Atlantic Division is still stuck in mediocrity or worse, so Boston remains the team with the best chance to catch up to Philadelphia.

Should the Sixers start losing more, it would be even worse if the Celtics started winning consistently again at the same time. Fortunately, Boston won’t face Orlando again until mid-April, so maybe it will still have a hard time against the rest of the NBA. If it doesn’t, however, this week will loom even larger as the time when the Celtics finally turned a corner.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident and 76ers fan.

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That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

The Philadelphia 76ers are still trying to measure themselves against the NBA elite. Sixers fans like myself have a particular eye towards the Miami Heat, since they knocked off Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs last season. As such, a Sixers win over the Heat on Jan. 21 would have been the best proof yet that they are marching up into the Eastern Conference elite after all.

Instead, Philadelphia came up short against Miami again – and actually looked worse than it did in its playoff losses a year ago. The Sixers had a real shot to beat the Heat in most of the playoff games last year, yet they were blown out of the water more decisively in a 113-92 loss in the rematch.

The score was a little misleading, as the Sixers were within range up until about the last few minutes of the third quarter. Yet the Heat were in control for much of the way and ultimately pulled away in the final stretch, just like Philadelphia usually does against weaker teams. Even though Miami was playing without Dwayne Wade, it has not stopped it from beating up the competition so far.

The Heat improved to 6-0 without Wade this year on the strength of 30 points from Chris Bosh and 28 more from LeBron James. Mario Chalmers was the only other Heat player to score more than 10 points, as he only had 11. The Sixers have won on the strength of having multiple players get to double digits, even though their balanced attack has no superstar at the center. Yet two superstars combining for 58 points was enough to knock off a team that had five players combine for 73 points.

While only three Heat scored in double digits, several players chipped in seven, eight and nine points. As it turned out, Miami’s depth was a little deeper than Philadelphia’s, especially since Andre Iguodala had just four points, Thaddeus Young was held to six and Jodie Meeks got only seven. In this case, the Sixers couldn’t survive an off night by a few of their aspiring stars, whereas the Heat could survive having one of their Big Three on the bench.

Philadelphia will eventually have more chances to face the East and the NBA’s elite and prove it can join them someday. But if the Sixers are ever going to truly break through, it will need to happen against the Heat, as they represent their ceiling. Miami showed how far Philadelphia still has to go in last year’s playoffs, then it reminded the Sixers again in the rematch and may eventually have an opportunity to do it again in this year’s playoffs.

Many great teams had a barrier that they needed to break through to get over the hump – the Bad Boys on the Detroit Pistons had the Boston Celtics, then Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls had those same Pistons, and Patrick Ewing’s New York Knicks then tried and failed to get past those same Bulls. Now these Sixers have the Heat, although that still makes them no different from most every other team in the Eastern Conference.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident and 76ers fan.

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There is the quick update of the day.

It is still early in the season, but the Philadelphia 76ers are off to a decent 2-2 start. The 76ers have yet to play a home game but still sit in a first place tie in the Atlantic Division. Entering the season, very few people thought that the 76ers would have a shot at passing the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks in the Atlantic Division. But based on how things have gone so far, I can’t see any reason why the 76ers shouldn’t be considered a division contender right now. As a 76ers fan, I think this team has as good a shot as any.

To be fair, it is way too soon to tell if the 76ers will finish ahead of Boston or New York. The Celtics are a team that knows how to turn it on when it matters. Meanwhile, the Knicks have enough talent to compete all season. But through the first few games, neither team looks any better than the 76ers. Boston is 3-3 and hasn’t beaten anyone good. Granted, they have been playing without Paul Pierce but this is still a team that looks their age. Boston is still the favorite, but based on this season alone I can’t say that they have done anything better than the 76ers.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are in even worse shape. The Knicks have lost three of their last four games. Two of those losses came against a couple of lottery teams in the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors. The Knicks were crushed by the same Golden State team that the 76ers crushed. Once again, New York has bona fide superstars in players like Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. You have to think they are better than what we have seen. But the same can be said for the 76ers. There is nothing to suggest that New York is a better team right now based on this season alone.

We will learn a lot more about the 76ers when their season opening road trip ends. This team hasn’t faced a conference foe yet so it is hard to say how they will measure up in the East. But based on what I have seen, the 76ers are every bit as much of a contender as Boston or New York. Time will tell and there is a lot of basketball to be played, but right now I like the chances of this young, close knit group.

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The Philadelphia 76ers need a better start than last season to do anything in this year’s 66-game schedule. A 38-28 mark in last year’s final 66 games will hopefully reflect the 2012 Sixers more than the 3-13 start last season did. However, Sixers fans like myself once again had to see the team dig out of a poor beginning on opening night in Portland.

The Dec. 26 opener kicked off a five-game Western road trip against middle of the pack Western Conference teams. Out of those opponents, the Portland Trail Blazers are one of only two to have made the playoffs last year. Although the Blazers were pretty banged up and lost Brandon Roy to retirement, Portland still jumped all over Philadelphia early and didn’t look back en route to a 107-103 win.

Last year’s Sixers spent all of 2010-11 digging out of their early 3-13 skid and barely succeeding. In Portland, the 2011-12 campaign started with Philadelphia in an early 26-15 deficit after one quarter. Despite their best effort to climb out of it, the Sixers weren’t successful as the Blazers stayed comfortably ahead much of the way. While Philadelphia had its runs and ultimately had a chance to tie in the final seconds, too much damage had been done.

The inside game became an Achilles Heel, as the lack of big men for the Sixers cost them in the first half against the Blazers. Then when the lead shrunk in the second half, Portland’s outside game opened it up again and turned a 72-70 lead into 95-80 with several three-pointers. It took a 10 point run from Lou Williams to get Philadelphia within range at the end, yet it was Andre Igoudala who took the last shot and missed.

Seven out of eight Sixers who played scored in double digits, with only starter Jodi Meeks falling short in just 13 minutes of action. Yet four of those double-digit scoring Sixers just had 10 points, while Williams got most of his 25 in the final minutes and only Williams and Igoudala did anything beyond the arc. LaMarcus Aldridge did more with his 25 points to push the Blazers ahead, as did Gerald Wallace with his 16 points and Wesley Matthews with his three three-pointers.

Playing from behind most of the way can work for some teams, since they are capable of finishing off rallies. The Boston Celtics erased a 17-point first half deficit to challenge the New York Knicks on Dec. 25, before the Knicks made their own fourth quarter rally to win. But the Sixers are not on the Knicks’ and Celtics’ level yet, and they won’t be if they have to keep coming back from slow starts in both games and seasons. Hopefully it won’t take 65 more games for that lesson to sink in.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident and 76ers fan.

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What are your opinions.

Posted: 5:17 PM
Updated: 5:34 PM

The Associated Press

PORTLAND — The Maine Red Claws say the Philadelphia 76ers will be their new NBA affiliate, joining the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Bobcats as a parent club to the Red Claws.

Each NBA team can assign up to two NBA players at one time to their NBA Developmental League partner.

The 76ers join the Red Claws after one season as an NBA affiliate to the Springfield Armor.

Nine NBA D-League teams will enter the 2011-12 season with one-to-one NBA affiliations, with the remainder of the teams having agreements with two or three NBA teams.

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