The 76ers pulled a few surprises in the first half of the season, such as beating the Cavaliers and Rockets on the road and downing the Raptors at home. But they were a sub-.500 team and were unable to establish any consistency.
Now that Philly has won 19 of its last 25 games, including home victories over Dallas, Orlando, San Antonio and Denver, as well as road decisions of Phoenix, Detroit and league-leading Boston, it's getting tougher for the Sixers to sneak up on teams anymore. "Those days have to be over, winning 12 out of 14 home games," said guard Lou Williams. "I don't think it's sneaking anymore. I think other teams realize we've been playing good basketball."
"I think we've been at that point for a while," said guard/forward Andre Iguodala. "We made a run like this last year. Teams know we're capable of coming out and winning games."
The Sixers have done it by simply outworking teams, in addition to outrunning foes with their up-tempo attack. The results have been startling.
"We don't have time for egos and things like that," said forward Reggie Evans. "That's why I love this team so much. It's uncommon. The players are being patient and waiting for their opportunity. That's why we've been having success. That's the unique thing about this team -- everybody's got one common goal and that's just to win."
SUNS 107, SIXERS 93: Philly missed its first 13 shots, fell behind by 24 in the second quarter and couldn't get closer than 10 in the fourth.
The Sixers (37-36) shot just 39.3 percent from the floor, compared to the Suns' 51.3 percent. Philly's starters combined to shoot 18-for-53 (33.9 percent).
Phoenix had 27 points on three-pointers (9-of-20) to the Sixers' three (1-of-8).
"One of our worst games of the year," was rookie forward Thaddeus Young's assessment.
Andre Miller led the Sixers with 16 points and 10 assists. Lou Williams added 15 points, Andre Iguodala had 13, Rodney Carney chipped in 12 and Reggie Evans contributed 10.
The Sixers grabbed twice as many offensive rebounds (22-11) as the Suns and launched nine more shots, but couldn't get back into the game.
"We didn't adjust to the pick and roll," Iguodala said. "They just scored at will on us. They were good tonight."
The Sixers slipped to 11-3 in March, which could be enough for Maurice Cheeks to become the Eastern Conference coach of the month. The Sixers close out March by visiting the Cavaliers Sunday.
