By Jared Smith

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Jan 11, 2012 – The Philadelphia 76ers look for their seventh straight victory Wednesday, as they visit the New York Knicks in a Atlantic Division Eastern Conference contest at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. on CSN). The first-place Sixers (7-2) will be looking to match its longest win streak since 2009 and complete a stretch of three game in three days, while the Knicks (5-4) are looking to trim Philadelphia’s division lead to just one game.

On Tuesday, the Sixers dominated the visiting Sacramento Kings, 112-83, as Elton Brand tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds. Before that game, Philadelphia downed the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors, respectively.

Currently, guard Lou Williams is coming off the bench to net a team-best 16.4 points per game, while Jrue Holiday is averaging 14.8 ppg. Center Spencer Hawes is averaging 11.1 ppg and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are being successful despite dealing with multiple players being banged up.

On Monday, New York earned its third straight victory by downing the Charlotte Bobcats, 91-87, as forward Carmelo Anthony tallied just 22 points. Anthony is leading the team is scoring with 26.2 ppg. Last April, Anthony had 31 points and 11 rebounds in a 97-92 win at Philadelphia.

For more about the 76ers, visit the SB Nation blog Liberty Ballers. Meanwhile, SB Nation’s NBA hubpage has everything a professional basketball fans needs.

Read More: Carmelo Anthony (F – NYK), Elton Brand (F – PHI), Spencer Hawes (C – PHI), Jrue Holiday (G – PHI), New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers

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PHILADELPHIA – Elton Brand had a season-high 21 points and 10
rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers routed the Sacramento Kings
112-85 Tuesday night for their sixth straight victory.

The Sixers are 7-2 and lead the Atlantic Division. It’s their
best start since Allen Iverson helped them open 10-0 on their way
to the NBA finals in 2000-01.

Rookie Jimmer Fredette scored seven points in his first start
for Sacramento. Filling in for injured leading scorer Marcus
Thornton, the former BYU sensation shot 2 for 7. DeMarcus Cousins
led the struggling Kings with 17 points.

Evan Turner had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and
Jrue Holiday added 17 for Philadelphia, which had six players reach
double figures. With second-year coach Doug Collins calling the
shots and a deep roster, the Sixers are relevant again in
sports-crazed Philadelphia.

After winning 41 games and losing to Miami in five games in the
first round of the playoffs last year, the Sixers are one of the
NBA’s up-and-coming teams. They’ve won five games by at least a
20-point margin.

This game quickly turned into a rout early in the third quarter.
An 11-0 run featuring three baskets from Brand extended the lead to
63-42. It reached 84-60 when Jodie Meeks hit his third 3-pointer of
the quarter.

A 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter made it a laugher. Lou
Williams scored six in a row and Thaddeus Young capped it off with
a dunk that put Philadelphia up 94-62.

That allowed the reserves at the end of the bench to see rare
action. Andres Nocioni played in his third game. Tony Battie and
Lavoy Allen entered for just the second time this season.

Fans roared when Meeks hit a jumper midway through the fourth to
give the Sixers 100 points, which means fans can take their ticket
stubs to McDonald’s for a free Big Mac on Wednesday.

The only negative for Philadelphia was an injury to starting
center Spencer Hawes. He didn’t play the second half because of a
strained lower back.

The Sixers had another slow offensive start and trailed 11-8
midway through the first. Turner’s driving layup with under a
minute left gave Philadelphia a 22-20 lead, and it led the rest of
the game.

Thornton missed his first game with a bruised left thigh. The
Kings already were without starting forward Chuck Hayes, who is
expected to miss three to four weeks with a dislocated left
shoulder.

The Philadelphia 76ers have raised some eyebrows in starting 5-2 and winning four blowouts already. But Sixers fans like myself will need a little more to go on until we are all in with this team. The fact is that Philadelphia’s five wins were all against sub .500 teams and that there won’t be many more winning clubs on the schedule for a while. However, the Sixers will host a plus .500 opponent on Jan. 9 to give them an early measuring stick.

But Philadelphia isn’t playing an established contender, as the Indiana Pacers are in the same boat. The Pacers and Sixers had the bottom two playoff seeds last season and are trying to take the next step this year. Both have started better than expected, as the Pacers have done a little better with a 6-2 record so far – although Indiana has also done most of its damage against losing squads too.

The biggest test that Indiana faced came on Jan. 4 when it visited the Miami Heat and got slaughtered by 35 points – even with Dwayne Wade out. As for Philadelphia, the best team that it faced was the Portland Trail Blazers in the season opener on Dec. 26, which ended in a closer Sixers loss.

Perhaps since both teams are trying to rise from the bottom of the playoff pack and have cleaned up so far against inferior competition, their showdown in Philadelphia might not be that revealing. There is still reason to suspect that they will come back down to Earth when they face the elite, like the Pacers did in Miami last week. But given how Indiana and Philadelphia have only really beaten bad teams, beating a good one is still a feather in their cap no matter who it is.

The Sixers have mastered beating sub .500 squads and blowing them out as well. Yet they have only won one close game and that was against the 2-6 New Orleans Hornets on Jan. 4. Since it is unlikely that they will blow out the Pacers, winning a close contest against a club with a winning record would be a terrific statement to make. Doing it in Philadelphia and improving to 3-0 at home will also help as well.

It is going to be a season-long process for Philadelphia and Indiana to match the Chicago’s and Miami’s of the Eastern Conference. But the Sixers and Pacers have to beat fellow promising teams like each other before they can get up to challenge the elite. Therefore, this battle will reveal something as these two would-be contenders try to climb another leg up in the Eastern hierarchy.

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

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The Philadelphia 76ers are having a late home opener and not just because of the lockout. Sixers fans like myself have had to stay up to see the team so far, after they went on the road out West and in the South for five straight games. But what we saw of the Sixers looked mostly good as they escaped with a 3-2 record, and now they get to start getting better back in Philadelphia.

With 18 of the next 22 games at home and with not many of the NBA elite scheduled to visit, the Sixers have a chance to start building up a good record. They start off on Jan. 6 with a home opener against the 2-4 Detroit Pistons as an example – which bodes well since Philadelphia beat three 2-4 teams already in the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Hornets.

The Sixers managed to prove that they can beat fellow mediocre ball clubs, although they did lose to the 5-1 Portland Trail Blazers to start off. If they do keep winning in a manageable schedule, there will still be doubts on whether they can actually beat the best. Yet those questions won’t really be answered until later, so they still have to keep winning in the meantime.

Philadelphia has won on the strength of some big spurts, big play off the bench from Lou Williams, the emergence of a double-double machine in Spencer Hawes and the continued evolution of Jrue Holiday. That has all been well and good to see on the road, but seeing it at home is another matter as the Sixers try to prove that they can make a dent in Philadelphia.

With the Eagles now starting their disappointing offseason, the Phillies in the middle of theirs and the Flyers heading into midseason, the Sixers have a good window of opportunity to actually get noticed. Since they will be at the Wells Fargo Center for much of January, winning a lot of those games and building up a winning record could get more fans to drop by – and get the rest of the NBA to take notice.

Since the Sixers don’t have to travel so much for now and since the schedule is still manageable, the hope is that Philadelphia doesn’t take its foot off the gas as a result. Their 3-2 record could have easily been 4-1 or even 5-0 with a few better breaks, so there is still much room for improvement. But the team ended up getting in the right direction on the road, and now it is time for the Sixers to keep proving it in friendly confines while the iron is hot.

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

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The Philadelphia 76ers went into Golden State on Dec. 31 after blowing a winnable game to the then-winless Utah Jazz the night before. Sixers fans like myself feared that this defeat would doom them to a 1-4 or 2-3 road trip, which would be a disappointing way to start the season. However, the Sixers showed a talent that will bode well for them in this 66-game schedule – rallying from a bad loss one night to get a convincing victory 24 hours later.

When the week started, Philadelphia suffered a hard close loss to the Portland Trail Blazers before blowing out the Phoenix Suns the next time out. The pattern repeated to end the opening week, as the Sixers rallied from a bad close loss to the Jazz by blowing through the Golden State Warriors the next time out in a 107-79 thumping.

It had looked like the Sixers had picked up right where they left off from Utah in the worst way, as the Warriors jumped ahead by 13 points early on – just as the Sixers did against the Jazz the previous night. But just as Philadelphia forfeited that lead quickly, Golden State soon coughed up their 13-point lead pretty fast. Yet while the Sixers at least stayed within range throughout after blowing their early lead to the Jazz, the Warriors kept free falling.

Philadelphia put Phoenix away with a 19-0 run to start the second half, and repeated the pattern by pushing an eight-point halftime lead over Golden State to 20 points before long. Other recurring trends included Lou Williams leading the Sixers in scoring off the bench, while Spencer Hawes contributed a double-double.

It is puzzling that the same Philadelphia team which blew out Phoenix and Golden State so thoroughly is still only 2-2. While winning blowouts hasn’t been a problem so far, coming out ahead in closer games has been more problematic. The Sixers have won twice by a combined 48 points, yet it has been negated by losing twice by a combined seven points.

The pattern seems to consist of blowout victories in even numbered games this season after close losses in odd numbered games. This doesn’t bode well for the Sixers’ fifth game against the New Orleans Hornets on Jan. 4, although they at least have a few days off to solve this problem.

As impressive as the Sixers have been in Phoenix and Golden State, pulling out a game that’s in doubt in the final minutes would be more impressive right about now. Judging how Philadelphia is due for another close battle in New Orleans, it may make the difference between a promising 3-2 road trip and a very disappointing 2-3 finish.

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

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OAKLAND, Calif.—After coming off a tough loss in Utah, the Philadelphia 76ers marched into the Bay Area exactly one night later to face a rested, young, energized team in the Golden State Warriors. I’ll admit, I was a bit less confident than I had been entering the previous three games, (even with Monta Ellis out of the lineup) but the Sixers responded with an explosive 107-79 win.

Philadelphia fell behind Golden State 13 points in the first quarter before Sixers head coach Doug Collins cleared his bench subbing in Evan Turner, Louis Williams, and Thaddeus Young, sparking an 88-54 outscoring of the Warriors through the last three quarters.

Williams led all scorers with 23 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 Assists; Andre Iguodala contributed 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Spencer Hawes continued his brilliant play pitching in his third double-double this season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“There are certain moments that you don’t forget as a coach, and today will be one of those days,” coach Collins said. “I thought we got our team back today. Our bench turned the game around for us.”

That they did.

They outscored Golden State’s bench 58 to 30 and have been trending in that direction since the final 66 games of last season.

HeckPhilly’s expert fan thoughts:

The Sixers have played four games this season—won two, lost two—all but one (Utah, in which they scored 99) of which they’ve scored over 100 points in. In every game, the Sixers have lopsidedly outscored the opponent’s bench. Their sudden change in tempo when Williams, Turner, and Young come in has seemed to be all the difference in the Sixers’ seeming struggle to get over the hump.

It’s clear, the Sixers have the best bench in the league; something Collins wanted them to actively shoot for in 2012. It’s a good goal, being that this bench is the juice of this team’s league fourth-best scoring 103 ppg.

Another note about the Sixers is their specific winning pattern.

In their game against Portland, the Sixers struggled gather themselves from the opening tip-off, turning over the ball 20 times. Despite that, they hung into the game throughout, but failed to turn their efforts into a win, losing on a missed 3-point by Iguodala. In Phoenix, they ran the Suns out of the building seemingly doing everything right. In Utah, the Sixers were a bit sloppy and like in Portland, failed to hit on a last second possession to tie the game. Saturday night, they turned around and crushed the Warriors.

My point?

That’s the sign of a team not too far off from being a serious contender. A bit of maturity here or there, and maybe an extra piece could change everything. It will take a few more games before the Sixers will know exactly what they may need to do to make that move—whatever it may be (if necessary) but one thing is for sure: this will be another fun year from the 76ers.

At this point in the young season, I can see this team getting out of the first round in the postseason. They have the depth, legs, and youth to do so. Strap in.

Vincent Heck is a life-long resident of the Philadelphia area, and a featured ‘Fan View’ blogger on Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @HeckPhilly

Follow Yahoo! Local’s Yahoo! Philly on Twitter: @YahooPhilly

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The Philadelphia 76ers looked like a safe bet to get to 2-1 over the Utah Jazz on Dec. 30. Sixers fans like myself were encouraged by their scorching performance against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 28, and Philadelphia was facing a Utah team that got destroyed in its first two games. But although things looked good at various points for the Sixers, they couldn’t quite hold on.

The Sixers trailed for most of the way against the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 26 before leading much of the way over the Suns. In this case, however, Philadelphia blew early leads in the first and second half and let Utah hang around too long, before the Jazz finally got ahead for good for a 102-99 victory.

Things looked to be carrying on exactly as they did in Phoenix, as the Sixers racked up a 13-point lead early in the second quarter and were shooting in the high 50s. Yet Philadelphia took its foot off the gas and allowed a Utah team that had been blown out twice already this year to get new life.

As a result, the Jazz took a two point lead into the locker room, but it didn’t last long. The Sixers again jumped out early to get a lead, but there would be no 19-0 runs in the third quarter to put the opposition away this time. Although it should have been easier to put an 0-2 team away, the Jazz kept hanging around and waited for their chance to pull back ahead.

Philadelphia made it a little easier for Utah by going just 21-for-29 at the free throw line while Lou Williams missed all five of his three-point attempts. So even though Jrue Holiday had 22 points and Williams had 20 while three other Sixers scored in double figures, it still wasn’t enough when it counted. Utah did enough to win its first game of the year, as Philadelphia just didn’t do enough to stop it in the end or in the beginning.

Although the Sixers have gotten one impressive blowout victory so far, they have fallen short in two closer games already. They did nearly make a rally over the Blazers, yet in both Portland and Utah, Philadelphia couldn’t make a three-pointer at the end to force overtime. If the Sixers can only win games by 20 points, then they will be in big trouble this year.

Utah didn’t even have the chance to win at the last minute in its opening losses, but it still came through over Philadelphia in clutch time. As a result, the Sixers have gone from having a chance at a big opening road trip to needing a sweep of its last two games for a 3-2 record. Since they visit the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Hornets, it might be possible – but the Jazz showed that the Sixers aren’t ready to take any opponent for granted.

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

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The 1-1 Sixers look to win their second consecutive game tonight as they travel to Utah to face Jazz in the Jazz’s home opener. This is the third game of a five-game road trip to start the season for the Sixers, and the first of a back-to-back with Golden State on New Year’s Eve.

It’s early, but the 0-2 Jazz have been abysmal on both ends of the floor to start the season. They’re 28th in the NBA in offensive efficiency at 88.4 and dead last in defensive efficiency at 111.1.

The Sixers are three-point road favorites according to Vegas. They’re a good home team and are due for a breakout game after two terrible losses to start the season. Arguably the team’s best player, Al Jefferson, is shooting 33 percent this season – that won’t continue, especially against the Sixers soft interior defense.

The key to the game is going to be rebounding for both teams. Philadelphia ranks 14th in total rebounding and the Jazz rank 21st. However; the Jazz have a plethora of talented bigs who could cause the Sixers problems in the paint. Look for Paul Millsap and Enes Kanter to provide match-up problems off the bench.

Fore more on the 76ers, visit Liberty Ballers.

The Philadelphia 76ers hardly got off on the right foot against the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 26. As such, Sixers fans like myself hoped that it wouldn’t trigger another early season skid such as the one from last year. Getting a win over the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 28 would quell those concerns – but the Sixers did even more than that.

After being behind pretty much all night in Portland, Philadelphia was the one that jumped out early and didn’t look back in Phoenix. In fact, not only did the Sixers start out on fire in the first half, they were downright scorching to start the second, as a 19-0 run piled onto a 14 point halftime lead.

The Sixers finally gave the Suns enough mercy to leave with a mere 103-83 victory, although it wasn’t even that close. For the second straight game, multiple Sixers scored in double figures, yet it was a more balanced attack overall. Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young all led the way with 15 points, while Steve Nash was held to 2-of-11 shooting in just 17 minutes.

Beating up on the Suns is a mite easier than it used to be in Nash’s MVP days. However, the Sixers needed a win like this to erase any early concerns for an opening slump. Even though Philadelphia has winnable games in the rest of its five-game road trip, it doesn’t mean that much in this type of year. With a lockout-shortened offseason and a long trip out West to start the season, the margin for error isn’t exceedingly strong.

The Sixers may not be on the level of experienced Western playoff teams like the Blazers, but they seem to be just fine against declining powers like the Suns. That bodes well for their next matchup with the already skidding Utah Jazz on Dec. 30, although they can’t expect another 19-point run to make it easier. Yet after playing from behind throughout in Portland and being comfortably ahead throughout in Phoenix, maybe Philadelphia will find a happy medium that works for it.

Destroying the Suns was the first sign of what the Sixers can be when all cylinders are firing. Now they will just need about 35-40 more examples to make the rest of the regular season a success. The team that ran all over the Suns can certainly get that many, yet it all depends on how often they are able to show up again.

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

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PHOENIX (AP) – Andre Igoudala scored 15 points to lead six players in double figures and added six assists and the Philadelphia 76ers routed the Phoenix Suns 103-83 on Wednesday night.

Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young also scored 15 each for the Sixers, who used a 19-0 run at the beginning of the third quarter to extend a 14-point halftime lead to 67-34 with 6:44 remaining.

Ronnie Price, signed as a free agent on Dec. 13, matched a career high with 16 points, and Grant Hill and Hakim Warrick added 14 each for the Suns, who are off to a 0-2 start for the first time since 1996-97.

Philadelphia needed less than 90 seconds of the third quarter to stretch a 48-34 lead at halftime to 11 at 55-34 on Spencer Hawes’ steal and dunk with 10:34 to go in the period.

The 76ers’ fast start was aided by Steve Nash, who threw the ball away twice, missed a jump shot and took the blame as his teammates walked to the huddle after coach Alvin Gentry called time out.

But Philadelphia never missed a beat. Jodie Meeks made consecutive shots, Holiday made four straight free throws and added a pair of jump shots as the 76ers opened a 33-point lead.

Shannon Brown ended the Suns’ quarter-long scoring drought on an 18-foot jump shot with 5:48 left in the period, drawing a sarcastic cheer from the crowd.

Nash finished 2 of 11 from the floor with one assist, six turnovers and four fouls.

Notes: The Sixers have won two straight in Phoenix for the first time since 1984-85. . Meeks, who scored three points in Philadelphia’s opener at Portland, finished with nine on 4 of 6 shooting. … Phoenix’s losing streak in 1996-97 stretched to 13 games before the Suns won 40 of their last 69 to make the playoffs. . Suns forward Channing Frye had eight rebounds in eight first-quarter minutes, but sat out the entire second quarter and played only five more minutes the rest of the way. . Phoenix had two field goals over the final 5:04 of the first quarter, both by Hakim Warrick spaced nearly four minutes apart. . Sixers coach Doug Collins is 3-0 against Phoenix since taking over in Philadelphia before last season.

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