The Time is Now

The Sixers had the night off last night as they prepare for their upcoming match against a very hot Nuggets squad.   Denver comes off a 168 point output against Kevin Durant and Sonics on Sunday night.  Allen Iverson’s return comes at a pivotal point for the 76ers as they are right in the middle of a heated playoff race in the lowly Eastern Conference. 

Even though the Sixers did not play last night they gained an all important 1/2 game as the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors both lost last night.   Mike Bibby had a coming out party as the Atlanta Hawks downed the Wiz 105-96 and Toronto straight up got smoked by the Utah Jazz 96-79.  As of last night’s games here are the current standings.

	Eastern Conference
		W	L	GB	STRK
1	y-Boston	53	13	–	Won 2
2	x-Detroit	48	18	5	Won 2
3	x-Orlando	45	24	9 ½	Won 5
4	Cleveland	38	30	16	Lost 1
5	Toronto	34	33	19 ½	Lost 5
6	Washington	33	33	20	Lost 1
7	Philadelphia	33	34	20 ½	Won 3
8	Atlanta	29	38	24 ½	Won 3

Some key points that stand out to me after taking a look at some box scores and the standings:

• Toronto is hurting right now without Chris Bosh and it shows.  Not the time to lose 5 in a row and could very well play themselves out of the 5 seed.
• Washington’s team is not that good.  Their bench is awful and Caron Butler is struggling in his return so far.  Perfect time for the Sixers to blow by them.
• Sixers are playing great basketball right now and could not pick a better time to hit their stride.  A lot of the young guys are stepping up and contributing during quality minutes.  Let’s keep the streak alive.
• Mike Bibby seems to be settling in nice down in the ATL and has this young group of guys playing consistent basketball.  If we don’t keep up our winning ways, the Hawks could be nipping at our heels if we drop a few.
• I know we need to get over Washington first, but …. Can you say 5 seed?

The time is now Sixer fans.  Our schedule is tough in the coming weeks and should be a true test as to where we rank among some of the leagues best.  I will be in attendance Wednesday night for the return of Allen Iverson to the Wachovia Center where I expect him to receive a warm welcome.  I am a huge Answer fan as you can tell by our Top 10 AI Countdown and I expect him to play well but I am also expecting an incredible effort by the Sixers and hopefully a win.  Hey, if they can take down the defending champs, we can sure as hell take down the current 9 seed in the West.