The 76ers aren't just playing better at home. With Friday's stirring 110-106 victory over the Bulls, the Sixers have won five in a row on the road. The last time that happened was Dec. 10-28, 2004, which marked their last trip to the playoffs.
Included in that stretch were wins at Phoenix and Detroit. The Sixers out-ran the Suns, 119-115, and beat the experienced Pistons, who have reached the last five Eastern Conference finals, by 83-82 in a grind-it-out game that is Detroit's forte. "It is up there," said Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks of the Pistons' game. "This is big because it is coming down toward the end where we only have so many games left. We talked about playing Boston (Monday at home) and then the Pistons, two of the top teams in the East, and we came out 1-1, so we feel pretty good about that."
Besides doing well against good teams on the road, the Sixers are also handling the not-so-good teams. In between the wins over the Suns and the Pistons, the Sixers dispatched the Clippers by 26 and the Bucks by 22 on the road. They rallied from 18 down to upend the Bulls.
SIXERS 110, BULLS 106: Philly improved to 14-4 in its last 18 games with the stunning comeback victory.
The Sixers (32-34) overcame an 18-point third-quarter deficit with a 28-10 run to tie the score, then finished the job with a pair of key three-pointers from Rodney Carney and a Lou Williams jumper. The bench keyed the rally, as the unlikely lineup of Williams, Kevin Ollie, Carney, rookie Jason Smith and starter Andre Iguodala played the bulk of the fourth quarter.
The Sixers forced seven turnovers and committed none in the final period. They outscored the Bulls 40-20 in the quarter to move within one game of sixth-place Washington in the Eastern Conference.
"We just didn't give up," Ollie said. "Our bench guys came in and gave us a lift. That's what being a team is all about."
Iguodala led the Sixers with 25 points. Carney and Andre Miller added 18 apiece, Reggie Evans had 12 and Samuel Dalembert and Williams chipped in 11 each.
The Sixers, who complete their week by hosting the Spurs Saturday, went 40-for-44 (.909) from the line, giving them twice as many made free throws as the Bulls attempted (20).
