The Philadelphia 76ers are facing a big test from the Chicago Bulls on Mar. 4. Of course, Sixers fans like myself are learning that measuring up to the Bulls and Miami Heat may not be realistic yet. The more reachable goal is to hold on in the Atlantic Division and hope the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics don’t catch fire – starting with their own showdown on Mar. 4.

The Knicks have already caught fire thanks to ‘Linsanity’ and Jeremy Lin, which started ever since a defeat to the Celtics on Feb. 3. That loss dropped New York to 8-15, which was the low point of the season and a certain sign that the team would implode within days. But on the very next day, Lin made his introduction to the world stage and the Knicks and the NBA haven’t been the same since.

Boston helped kick off ‘Linsanity’ by giving New York its latest ugly loss a month ago, so a lot of this is its own fault. Thanks to that, the Celtics and Knicks are neck-and-neck for second place as they both try to cut into the Sixers’ lead. However, while New York is still only 18-18 and a half-game behind Boston, the Celtics look much more unstable.

With trade rumors springing up around Rajon Rondo and the aging ‘Big Three’ slipping up, the Celtics may be on the brink of starting their rebuilding project early. Should New York defeat them on Mar. 4 and jump ahead for second, it may be another sign for Boston to start selling at the trade deadline.

The Celtics and Knicks began the entire NBA season on Christmas Day, with New York pulling out a promising win at Madison Square Garden. When they met again in Boston on Feb. 3, New York was just about ready to call it a season. Now their third showdown stands to be a defining moment again, as the Knicks try again to go over .500 for the first time during ‘Linsanity.’ If Lin can lead them into second place and kick the Celtics while they are down, they can perhaps set their sights completely on the Sixers.

With Philadelphia facing the NBA’s best team in Chicago hours later, New York has a chance to get closer than ever to first place with a win. This didn’t seem possible the last time the Knicks visited Boston, yet time and ‘Linsanity’ have changed a few things.

However, they might not have been desperate enough to use Lin in the first place if they held their big third-quarter lead over the Celtics on Feb. 3. But since the Celtics came back that night, it hasn’t really worked out for Boston in the long term. Now New York has a chance to rub it in even further and make ‘Linsanity’ take one more small step forward.

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

Other stories from this contributor

76ers try to recapture Magic over Bulls

76ers pay proper tribute to Wilt by finally crossing 100 points

Celtics now less stable, .500 second place team than Knicks

76ers hope for much better March than February

Knicks restore ‘Linsanity’ with hot second half over Cavaliers

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been trying to get to the level of the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. Unfortunately, Sixers fans like myself know quite well that the Heat have had their way with us twice this season. However, the slightly better Bulls had less luck against the Sixers a month ago, and now Philadelphia hopes history will repeat itself on Mar. 4.

When Chicago visited the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 1, it was at the start of Philadelphia’s big seven-game stretch against winning teams. Then when the Sixers throttled the Bulls by 98-82, it was the crowning achievement of the season and seemed to prove that this team was for real. Yet the Heat deflated those dreams two nights later and things haven’t really been the same since.

Thumping the Bulls remains the highlight of the year – and it is getting more problematic that this win hasn’t been topped yet. Since Feb. 1, Philadelphia has been steadily cooling off and now needs to get hot again fairly quickly. Defeating Chicago at home for a second time on Mar. 4 would certainly be a step in the right direction.

A month after their last meeting, the Bulls haven’t cooled off as much as the Sixers have. In fact, although the Heat have all the buzz as an Eastern Conference and NBA Finals favorite, the Bulls now have a better record than Miami again. At 30-8, Chicago rolls in with a five-game winning streak and the best record in the entire NBA.

Losing twice to Miami has proven that Philadelphia is not on the level of the elite – and so have several losses to the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks. But if the Sixers can go 2-0 over the Bulls, it would be a very valuable feather in their cap. Not to mention it would give us fans more reasons to prefer Chicago over Miami as a playoff opponent.

To face either the Bulls or Heat in the playoffs, however, the Sixers need to at least win one round first. The Philadelphia team that manhandled Chicago a month ago looked more than capable of that goal. But ever since this watershed victory, that version of the Sixers has only reappeared once in a while.

Philadelphia started the month of February on the highest note possible, before struggling badly over the next 28 days. Likewise, beating Chicago to start March might not carry over for the rest of this month too. But there’s no reason for the Sixers not to beat the Bulls and try to find out anyway.

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

Other stories from this contributor

76ers pay proper tribute to Wilt by finally crossing 100 points

Celtics now less stable, .500 second place team than Knicks

76ers hope for much better March than February

Knicks restore ‘Linsanity’ with hot second half over Cavaliers

76ers don’t have enough Thunder for Oklahoma City

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Depending on how you look at it, the Philadelphia 76ers have either lost six of eight or are winners of two of their last three, with just a four-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder separating them from a three-game winning streak.

The Sixers played well Friday night, topping the hapless Golden State Warriors by 22, two nights after not being able to find the basket down the stretch against the Thunder.

Scoring has been an issue for Philadelphia all season, but magnified more recently during a streak that has dropped the Sixers from 20-9 to 22-15.

But the 105-point outburst isn’t anything new against a team who is rated the fifth-worst defensively, allowing on average 100.2 to opponents per contest.

Lou Williams was a large part of the Sixers solid offensive effort Friday, scoring a game-high 25 points in just 27 minutes on 60 percent shooting. Head coach Doug Collins noted that his rivalry with Warriors’ leading scorer Monta Ellis may have fueled Williams, as the two have been dueling since being rated as two of the top high school players in the nation many years ago.

“They’ve been rivals since they were like 15,” Collins said. “Sometimes you just need that extra juice. I was happy for him. He’s been struggling to make shots. I sent him a text message the other night and said I believe in you, keep shooting.”

Collins also said his team, coaches and players included, were tired going into the All-Star break.

“Everybody was tired,” Collins said. “I just told the team to enjoy (Friday’s) win. It’s been a long time since we won in front of our fans.”

The Sixers have Chicago and Milwaukee on deck today and Monday, making it five games in seven days since the break.

“We’ve started 2-1,” Collins said. “It’s a good recovery from a tough stretch. I’m very happy with how the guys worked hard to make this happen (Friday). I told them to shoot with confidence. Eventually shots are going to go in for us and (Friday) they did.”

• HAWES UPDATE: Center Spencer Hawes has been told to remove the protective boot he was wearing in mid-February. Hawes will miss at least two more weeks, guaranteeing that he will play in less than half of the 76ers games this season after getting off to a career-best start.

Hawes was averaging over 10 points per game and just under 58 percent shooting from the field before a back injury, followed by the current Achilles problem has kept him off the hardwood.

• RETURN: Just a month after he was sent to the NBADL, Craig Brackins was recalled by the Sixers Friday. Brackins didn’t get much burn with the team in his first stint this season, but averaged nearly 19 points and over nine rebounds in seven games for the 76ers NBADL affiliate in Maine.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the few teams to have repeated
success frustrating Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.

Last month’s lopsided loss in Philadelphia still bothers the league’s
reigning MVP.

Rose and the Bulls look to avenge that defeat and avoid losing a fourth
straight to the 76ers on Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Chicago (30-8) owns a one-game lead over Miami atop the Eastern Conference
and is 7 1/2 games ahead of Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia (22-15). The
Bulls, however, have lost three straight to the Sixers, their longest active
skid against any team.

Philadelphia, which leads the league in scoring defense at 87.0 points -
just ahead of Chicago’s 88.2 – has excelled at getting the Bulls out of their
rhythm. Chicago has averaged 88.7 points and shot 26.8 percent from 3-point
range in the last three defeats, with Rose averaging 6.0 turnovers.

In this season’s first meeting Feb. 1, Chicago trailed by five at halftime
before being outscored 26-11 in the third quarter en route to a 98-82 loss. The
Sixers forced 17 turnovers leading to 29 points, and Rose (18) and C.J. Watson
(20) were the only Bulls to score in double figures.

“We’re kind of mad with the way that they smacked us last time at their
place,” Rose said after Friday’s 112-91 win at Cleveland.

One advantage Chicago could have in the rematch is the presence of Luol
Deng.

The first-time All-Star, who missed last month’s meeting with a sprained
left wrist, had a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting Friday. Rose had 19
points and nine assists in 28 minutes for the Bulls, who shot 52.8 percent and
made 10 of 20 3-pointers.

Friday’s victory was Chicago’s fifth straight and 12th in 14 games since the
loss in Philadelphia.

“Our guys’ attitude has been great all season,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.
“In this league, you get in trouble if you feel good about a win you had in the
last game or you look ahead to another opponent. That’s when you get hurt. You
have to concentrate on what’s in front of you. Being ready is the big thing.”

While the Bulls have regrouped since losing to the 76ers, Philadelphia
hasn’t enjoyed much success lately.

The win over Chicago gave the Sixers 12 victories in 14 home games, but
they’re 2-5 at the Wells Fargo Center since. They snapped a four-game home skid
with Friday’s 105-83 victory over Golden State, just their second victory in
eight games overall.

Lou Williams matched a season high with 25 points to help Philadelphia reach
the century mark for the first time in 20 games.

“We weren’t playing like a team that lost a few home games in a row,” Elton
Brand said. “We were playing like, hey, we can turn it off and turn it on any
time we want. We know we can’t. We’ve lost some really tight games.”

Brand had 14 points and 14 rebounds Friday, while Andre Iguodala finished
with 12 points and 11 boards. The Sixers outrebounded Golden State 51-39 and
will likely need another effort like that on the glass against the Bulls, who
are second in the league in rebounding at 45.6 per game.

Philadelphia had a 43-37 advantage on the boards in the first meeting with
Chicago, which is 5-5 when it gets outrebounded. The Bulls are 24-2 when
outrebounding their opponent.

The Sixers had five players finish with at least 14 points against Chicago
last month, with Iguodala and Thaddeus Young each scoring 19.

PHILADELPHIA — Lou Williams scored 25 points, and Elton Brand had 14 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 105-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday in the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.

The Sixers topped 100 points for the first time in 20 games on the night they paid tribute to the record Chamberlain set for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, at the Hershey Sports Arena.

The Sixers gave fans pieces of the court and honored Chamberlain’s sisters and former teammates during a halftime ceremony.

On that memorable night, Chamberlain scored 41 points by halftime and 69 points through three quarters. The Sixers had 50 points at the break and 75 points through three on Friday.

Andre Iguodala had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Sixers. Thaddeus Young scored 16 points.

Chamberlain’s single-game scoring record was never in jeopardy. David Lee had 24 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, and Monta Ellis scored 20 points. Stephen Curry (foot) sat out.

Chamberlain’s feat was recognized with interview clips, audio from the record-breaking fourth quarter, and a mounted 2”x2” piece of hardwood from the game court the Sixers recently purchased from the owners in Hershey, Pa. They donated part of the court to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Chamberlain died in 1999.

He played all 48 minutes in Philadelphia’s 169-147 win over the Knicks. He shot 36 of 63 from the floor and an un-Wilt like 28 of 32 from the free-throw line.

When the Sixers made their 37th basket Friday in the fourth quarter, it gave them 92 points.

The Sixers made their push to match Chamberlain in the fourth when Jrue Holiday and Williams hit 3s midway through the quarter to build an 85-67 lead. Nearly 18,500 fans were rocking, helping the Sixers — and the atmosphere — match their early-season fast start when they won 12 of 14 at home.

The Sixers had dropped five of six home games.

Brand had his second straight double-double after missing a pair of games with a strained right thumb. With center Spencer Hawes out with a strained Achilles’, Brand realized he needed to become a more reliable scoring option down low. He had eight points and eight rebounds in the third quarters as the Sixers stretched the lead to double digits.

With only their second win in eight games in hand, the crowd turned their attention down the stretch to the 100-point mark. In Hershey, Chamberlain’s point total was announced to the fans after each bucket late in the game. Fans on this night chanted “100 for Wilt!”

Young’s jumper bounced high off the rim and through to make it 99-79. Iguodala swished an 18-footer with 1:22 left for 101 points and the crowd erupted as if the shot were a playoff winner.

Of course, 100 points also meant free McDonald’s for everyone in the crowd.

Fifty years ago, the crowd went wild for The Big Dipper. In 2012, it’s Big Macs.

The point total was about the lone moment of suspense in a game the Sixers controlled for the final 24 minutes.

• NOTES: Warriors owner Joe Lacob joined members of Sixers ownership from a halftime ceremony. … The Sixers had not scored 100 points in the last 19 games, their longest streak since a 25-game drought in the 2003-04 season. … Only 4,124 attended the 1962 game. … The Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962 and the Syracuse Nationals moved the Philadelphia. Chamberlain followed the Warriors to California until he was traded to the Sixers in 1965.

PHILADELPHIA — Fifty years after Wilt Chamberlain did it by himself, a team of Warriors combined couldn’t score 100 points.

Or even 90.

Golden State, without its starting point guard and facing arguably the league’s best defense, shot just 40.2 percent Friday in a 105-83 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sixers celebrated the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest offensive performances in NBA history, Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game for the Philadelphia Warriors, by registering triple digits for the first time in 20 games. The Warriors? They celebrated Wilt the Stilt by going ice cold in the second half, totaling 36 points on 14-for-37 shooting after halftime.

“The whole game we were

trading buckets,” said forward Dominic McGuire, who started his second consecutive game. “The difference is, in the second half, they kept scoring and we didn’t.”

Stephen Curry (sprained right foot) was not in the rotation for the third consecutive game. After testing it during pregame workouts, it was obvious his sprained deltoid ligament had yet to heal.

Coincidentally or not, Golden State has failed to score more than 85 points without Curry in the lineup. During that stretch, the Warriors have shot 38.4 percent from the field. They’re 9 of 52 from 3-point range in the three games since the All-Star break. That’s 17.3 percent.

Before the All-Star break, the Warriors averaged 99.5 points on 45.9 percent shooting, including

39.6 percent from 3-point range.

“It always hurts when you’ve got your star point guard out, your floor general,” Dorell Wright said. “We’ve got our shooting guard running the point. But at the same time, that shouldn’t be an excuse. We’ve got to find a way.”

Forward David Lee led the Warriors with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Guard Monta Ellis had 20 points and seven assists. Wright — 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting — was the only other Warrior to register in double figures.

Meanwhile,

Philadelphia had six players do so, led by 25 from reserve guard Lou Williams. Sixers forwards Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand combined for 26 points and 25 rebounds, helping Philadelphia win the battle of the boards 51-39.

“They got whatever they wanted,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. “We didn’t respond. They got 25 points (each of) the first three quarters, 30 the last quarter. That’s not the defense that we play. It was a disappointing effort once again.”

For a while, it looked as if the Warriors would be headed for another nail-biter. By forcing turnovers (seven) and competing on the boards (23-22), the Warriors hung close though Philadelphia shot 48.8 percent in the first half. Golden State trailed just 50-47 at the

half.

The Warriors trailed 54-51 after an Ellis layup early in the third quarter. But Golden State’s next five shots were jumpers, and they missed four of them. It allowed for an 11-3 Philadelphia run that put Golden State down 65-54.

“We battled in the first half, down three at halftime and we were happy with that,” Jackson said. “I think at the start of the third quarter we didn’t come out with force, and they took control of the game, and that’s when they established their rhythm.”

The Warriors trailed 75-65 entering the fourth quarter, but another scoring drought allowed Philadelphia to put the game away. Golden State missed six of its next seven shots.

The Sixers capped a 10-2 run by scoring eight points in just

over a minute. Williams’ 3-pointer put the Warriors down 85-67 with 8:20 left in the fourth.

Read More: Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder

The Philadelphia 76ers have hit the skids, losing their last five games. They seemed primed to run away with the Atlantic Division, but their recent losing streak, coupled with a bit of Linsanity, have the Sixers just 3.5 games ahead of the New York Knicks after the All-Star break.

Philadelphia will face a Detroit Pistons squad on Tuesday that had a bit of success in February, but is still a 11-24 squad with a lot of youth. If they don’t win, the Sixers will have to beat either the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, or the Chicago Bulls on Friday to end their schneid. Neither game will be easy by any stretch, but at least both games will be played at the Wells Fargo Center.

Here’s the complete 76ers weekday schedule with TV/Radio information:

Tuesday, 2/28: 76ers @ Pistons (7:30 p.m. ET, TV/Radio: CSN/94WIP)

Wednesday, 2/29: 76ers vs. Thunder (7:00 p.m. ET, TV/Radio: CSN/ESPN/94WIP)

Friday, 3/2: 76ers vs. Bulls (8:00 p.m. ET, TV/Radio: CSN/ESPN/94WIP)

For more on the 76ers, head over to the SB Nation blog Liberty Ballers.

Not much has gone right for the Philadelphia 76ers the last two weeks,
though they still enter the second half of the season atop the Atlantic
Division.

Another victory over the Detroit Pistons would help them start to get back
on track.

Visiting Philadelphia seeks to end a five-game losing streak by beating
Detroit for the third time this season Tuesday night.

The All-Star break probably couldn’t have come at a better time for the
76ers (20-14), who fell 93-87 at Houston on Wednesday for their seventh loss in
nine games.

Tuesday’s game ends a stretch of seven of eight on the road, where
Philadelphia has lost four straight to drop to 7-8 away from home.

“You go through these stretches in the season where you’re just not making
shots,” said guard Louis Williams, who scored 17 points. “We’ve been going
through that the last five games.”

The Sixers were averaging 95.9 points prior to their losing streak but have
scored 83.2 during their skid. Still, they lead New York by 3 1/2 games in the
Atlantic.

“I would say that we’d be happy to be where we are now, when the season
started,” said swingman Andre Iguodala, who scored 11 points Wednesday and had
12 in Sunday’s All-Star game. “We put ourselves in position to be one of the
top teams in our division. We are where we want to be, but not playing the way
we want to now. Every team is going through tough stretches like this.”

Especially Detroit (11-24), which has been up and down all month.

The Pistons won four in a row from Feb. 2-10 before dropping consecutive
games to Washington and San Antonio, won three straight and then lost their last
two before the break.

Detroit blew a 17-point lead in a 101-100 defeat to Cleveland last Tuesday
before falling 103-93 in Toronto the following night.

“We’ve shown what we’re capable of both ends of the spectrum,” coach
Lawrence Frank said. “Do we want to be the group that played the first 24 games
(4-20), or the group that was able to put together consistent basketball (7-4)
for a little stretch?

“We want to be that (second) group. You have to mentally and physically
engaged to do it every night and that’s what we have to commit to.”

Greg Monroe scored 30 points and added 14 rebounds for his third straight
double-double Wednesday, though Rodney Stuckey was held scoreless after
averaging 23.5 points in his previous five games.

“We have to find a way to stay focused, no matter the circumstances,”
Monroe said.

The Pistons have lost both meetings with the Sixers by more than 20 points.
Philadelphia ran away in the fourth quarter for a 96-73 win Jan. 6 despite a
game-high 22 points from Monroe, then had six players score in double figures in
a 95-74 victory Jan. 28.

The 76ers have won three of the last four meetings, all played in
Philadelphia. The Pistons, though, have taken three of the last four home
matchups, the most recent a 112-109 overtime victory Jan. 8, 2011, behind a
game-high 23 points from Tayshaun Prince.