The Sixers' road has gotten tougher. After losing to the Pacers at home, they began a stretch of six in a row on the road by losing to the Celtics, 110-91. They'll face the Nuggets on Friday, the Jazz Monday and Clippers on Dec. 31 before closing out in Dallas and San Antonio.
While the competition is quite strong, the players are still hoping to return home after the Jan. 3 game in San Antonio with some confidence and a few more wins than when they started the annual holiday trek. "A successful trip, when you do something like this, is .500, but we want to do better," said veteran forward Donyell Marshall. "We have a good chance to do it. We're due to make a good run."
That the Nuggets won't have leading scorer Carmelo Anthony (right elbow contusion) should be good news for the Sixers. But beating any of the teams isn't a given.
"It's another test for us to see where we are and how we measure up," said guard Willie Green. "We definitely want to go in here and try to get some wins."
The 12-16 Sixers had won three in a row before the Indiana game. Now that they've lost two in a row, they must start playing much better if they're going to reach one of new coach Tony DiLeo's goals.
"My goal is that after this trip we are a better team defensively, a better team flowing into our offense, a better team executing," DiLeo said. "It's a good challenge. We're playing good teams, so we have to be able to play great defense and execute our offense."
CELTICS 110, 76ERS 91: The good news is the Sixers don't have to play the Celtics in Boston again this season. They lost the first meeting by 24 points and again Tuesday by 19. The Celtics, who set a team record with their 19th straight victory and an NBA record for most wins with only two losses (27-2), are just too experienced, too talented and too good. The Sixers were outscored 21-0 from three-point range and didn't make a three for the second consecutive game (they were 0-for-11 after going 0-for-8 in the home loss to the Pacers). The Celtics held a 29-17 edge from the foul line. Reserves Marreese Speights and Lou Williams led the Sixers with 16 points apiece.
