Going Backwards
Philadelphia,Pa – The struggling Philadelphia 76ers are holding down the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.
With more than a month to play in the regular season and four teams lurking behind them, their grip on a playoff slot is tenuous at best.
Facing the woeful Toronto Raptors should help Philadelphia get back in the win column.
Oddsmakers from Online Sportsbook SPORTSBETTING have made the 76ers -6.5 point spread favorites for today’s game against the Raptors. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 53% of more than 218 bets for this game have been placed on the 76ers -6.5.
The 76ers will try to avoid losing for the fourth time in five games when they open a three-game homestand Wednesday night against last-place Toronto, which has lost five in a row.
Philadelphia (30-31) went into the All-Star break on a roll, winning four straight and 14 of 18 while looking like a threat to rise up to the East’s fourth seed, which would give it home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Since then, however, the Sixers have looked like a team that may not be around for the postseason. They’ve lost three of four and seven of 10, and Milwaukee, Chicago, New Jersey and red-hot Charlotte are all within striking distance of knocking them from the top eight in the standings.
The Sixers looked lost offensively in their latest loss, scoring just 50 after the first quarter in an 89-74 defeat at Oklahoma City on Sunday, their second-lowest point total of the season.
"We didn’t play well. We haven’t been playing too well after the All-Star break," said leading scorer Andre Iguodala, who had nine points and six turnovers. "We kind of relaxed too much. We’ve got to get on pace or we could find ourselves in a bad position."
Philadelphia’s biggest bright spot of late has been point guard Andre Miller, who’s scored at least 20 in five straight games for the first time in his career. The Sixers, though, are 2-3 in those games and 9-10 this season when Miller has 20 or more.
Miller scored 13 in Philadelphia’s opening-night 95-84 home loss to the Raptors on Oct. 29, as Toronto (23-41) reeled off three wins to start a season most felt would end with a playoff berth.
Instead, it’s been nothing short of a disaster. The Raptors are on their fifth losing streak of at least five games after falling 109-101 to visiting Utah on Sunday, a game they led by eight with less than 10 minutes to play.
"I don’t really care to define a loss anymore," All-Star Chris Bosh said after finishing with 30 points and 10 rebounds. "A loss is a loss, I just move on. It really doesn’t matter who we play, we’re just trying to win games.
"We’ve had so many opportunities where we could have turned a corner, but it just didn’t happen. We just have to get off this skid right now."
Bosh has averaged 27.2 points during the losing streak and center Andrea Bargnani’s averaged 21.4, but scoring hasn’t been Toronto’s problem. The Raptors have yielded 113.2 points per game during their latest slide, and they’ve allowed 100 points in eight consecutive games.
They haven’t given up 100 points in nine straight since March 25-April 9, 2005.
Toronto allowed the Sixers to hit triple digits Nov. 12 in a 106-96 home loss. The Raptors, though, have owned the series recently at the Wachovia Center, where they’ve won five of six.
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Posted: 3/11/09 2:00AM ET
