The Sixers begin a difficult stretch of their schedule Wednesday in Boston. Starting with the game against the Celtics and ending with Monday's road date with the Mavericks -- sandwiched around a home game against the Hawks and a road contest in San Antonio -- the Sixers take on four very good clubs. If they don't win at least one of them, they'll find themselves further down the Eastern Conference standings with their annual Christmas/New Year's West Coast trip looming. "I just looked at that a couple days ago," said guard Willie Green. "I think this is really big for us to see where we are as a team. We're playing against top-level teams. We have to leave it all out on the floor."
The Sixers haven't fared well against solid teams this year. Their only victory over a team with more than four wins was the home opener against the Bucks. They were blown out at home by the Celtics and Jazz and on the road by the Magic. They also lost by four to the Suns (at the Wachovia Center) and six to the Cavaliers (on the road).
To have a shot at winning any of them, they're going to have to defend better than they did in the third quarter of Tuesday's loss to the Wizards, when they gave up 40 points on 16-for-25 shooting in the period.
"It was pretty much the same thing we've been doing all year -- giving up open shots and second-chance points," said swingman Andre Iguodala.
WIZARDS 108, SIXERS 107: The Sixers nearly overcame a 14-point deficit with eight minutes left, but Lou Williams' potential game-winning jumper bounced off the rim. Sixers coach Eddie Jordan relied heavily on two reserves, Jason Smith (14 points) and rookie Jrue Holiday (11 points, six boards), in the fourth-quarter rally.
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