The Sixers built up a big lead in the 3rd quarter but they had to fight the Cavs tooth and nail to finish them off last night.  Elton Brand led the way for the Sixers last night with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.  Lou Williams (16 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in 19 minutes) and Jodie Meeks (14 points, 2 rebounds and 3 steals in only 21 minutes) both also had solid games for the 76ers.  Jrue Holiday (13 points), Thaddeus Young (12 points) and Evan Turner (10 points) also pitched in for the Sixers.  The 76ers are now 30-29 on the year.

The Sixers shot 52.3% from the floor and they outrebounded the Pistons 49-32 helped them get a nice, easy home win last night.  Thaddeus Young (24 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal), Andre Iguodala (21 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 steal) and Elton Brand (20 points, 17 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) led the way for the Sixers in this game.  Jrue Holiday and Marreese Speights pitched in with 12 points apiece in this contest.  The 76ers are now 29-29 on the year.

The 76ers thumped the Wizards 64-33 combined in the 2nd and 3rd quarters last night and that was huge!  The Sixers shot 51.3% from the floor and they outrebounded the Wizards 49-34 which helps explain the final score.  Jrue Holiday (20 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) and Thaddeus Young (18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals) led the way for the 76ers last night.  Elton Brand (15 points), Evan Turner (15 points), Marreese Speights (14 points), Jodie Meeks (12 points) and Andre Iguodala (10 points) also pitched in last night.  The 76ers are now 28-29 on the season.

The Philadelphia 76ers went into the All-Star break with a 27-29 record which has them in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, 14 games behind the Celtics.  They are sitting in the #7 slot in the Eastern Conference right now.  They are only 2 games behind the Knicks for 6th place but they are only ahead of the Pacers (2 games), Bobcats (3 games) and Bucks (5.5 games) by small margins so they have little room for error.  Doug Collins has done an outstanding job coaching up the Sixers roster and they look like a playoff team to me right now.

Biggest Surprise:  31-year old Elton Brand had a pretty awful year for the Sixers in 2009-10.  So they were thinking that he might be on the downside of his career but he has been very solid for them this season.  Brand has played in 55 games (all starts) for the 76ers so far this year and he is averaging 34.7 minutes, 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game on 52.2% shooting from the floor.  Brand has also been a leader on the court and a great example for the younger players on the team.  The Sixers need Brand to finish this season strongly if they are going to make it back to the playoffs.

Biggest Disappointment:  23-year old Marreese Speights just doesn’t work hard enough for Doug Collins to trust.  That’s a shame because Speights has a lot of talent.  He has played in 45 games (1 start) for the Sixers so far this year and he is averaging 11.6 minutes, 5.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He is shooting 50.8% from the floor and 75% from the free throw line, so the talent it there.  The one thing the Sixers can’t do is deal him because a different coach might inspire him and then the Sixers would have egg on their faces.

The 76ers shot 55.2% from the floor and they outrebounded the Rockets 50-40 last night which helped them get a very nice road win.  Jrue Holiday led the way for the Sixers with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal).  Lou Williams (19 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot), Thaddeus Young (19 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) and Spencer Hawes (17 points, 10 rebounds and 1 assist) also had solid games for the Sixers in this game.  Andre Iguodala (13 points), Elton Brand (10 points) and Evan Turner (10 points) also pitched in last night.  The 76ers are now 27-29 on the season.

The 76ers outrebounded the Grizzlies 44-37 but it didn’t matter as they were outscored 25-16 in the 4th quarter.  Thaddeus Young led the way for the Sixers last night with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in 27 minutes off the floor.  Lou Williams (18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 24 minutes), Elton Brand (13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots) and Jrue Holiday (10 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot) also had solid games for the 76ers last night.  The 76ers are now 26-29 on the year.

The Sixers shot 51.3% from the floor while holding the T-Wolves to 36.4% shooting from the floor which helps explain the final score last night.  Thaddeus Young led the way for the 76ers last night with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 28 minutes off the bench.  Jodie Meeks (16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists) and Andre Iguodala (15 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal) also had solid games last night for the Sixers.  Lou Williams (13 points), Elton Brand (12 points), Spencer Hawes (12 points) and Jrue Holiday (10 points) also had solid games for the 76ers last night.  The 76ers are now 26-28 on the year.

The Sixers turned up the heat on D last night as they held the Spurs to 33.3% shooting from the floor and that’s the big reason for the nice home win.  The Sixers were outrebounded 57-46 last night and they only shot 35.4% from the floor themselves last night, but they still grinded out a nice win.  Jrue Holiday led the way for the 76ers last night with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.  Spencer Hawes had his best game in quite a while as he finished up with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.  Elton Brand only shot 4 of 11 from the floor but he still finished up with 8 points, 17 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.  The 76ers are now 25-28 on the year.

31-year old power forward Elton Brand has been very solid so far in February.  Brand has played in 5 games so far this month for the Sixers and he is averaging 35.2 minutes, 21.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  He is shooting 58% from the floor and 86.2% from the free throw line so far this month as he has been an offensive force.  Brand has now played in 51 games (all starts) for the Sixers so far this year and he is averaging 34.8 minutes, 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  The 76ers hope that Brand finishes the year strongly as the Sixers are fighting for a playoff spot…and that wasn’t expected this year.

The 76ers played hard last night against the Magic but they just came up a tad short in the end.  Lou Williams led the way for the Sixers last night with 23 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists and 27 minutes off the bench.  Andre Iguodala stuffed the stat sheet last night with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot.  Jodie Meeks (17 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal) and Elton Brand (12 points) also helped out last night.  The 76ers are now 24-28 on the year.