Although the team has caught some people's attention, most still consider them an also-ran and their .800 wining pct. a fluke. That's fine, all they've accomplished so far is a .500 record, not even a winning one.
Tonight they play the team that started them off on their winning ways, Orlando. Last time they played, the Sixers discovered that their guards could run all over the Magic's, and since they haven't made any trades I'm aware of I expect a similar game tonight.
At the clip the Sixers are winning, it is mathematically possible for them to catch Cleveland and take the 4th spot, but they are going to need virtually every win, and hope that Cleveland doesn't figure out how to get enough cohesiveness out of their new players.
On Saturday the play NJ, who since Kidd has left have been in free-fall. The Sixers need to win both of these badly, since next week they visit Boston. I'd be happy with a 2-1 record for the three games, but a win against Boston would shock everyone. I don't know if they've learned enough to beat the Celtics, but I would like to see if they're any better.
Barkley said the Sixers were in the hunt to make the playoffs, but didn't have the big gun to win it. He's basically right, but they may have enough anyway. It's simply a matter of performing better in the half-court at the end of games, which ever team does that consistently is the team that wins the whole thing. A team with great defense helps-you can't score without the ball. In the past month the Sixers figured out how to execute well enough to defeat Detroit, San Antonio and Denver in tight games. I'd say they're on their way.
The schedule gets easier from here on out, after the Suns game, no more WC teams. Lots of matchups with the teams they need to catch. The 2 games each with NJ, Cleveland and Atlanta give the Sixers a shot at moving up.
