Good thing, because the 76ers aren't the fastest, the biggest or the deepest.

The race, though, sometimes goes to whichever team just happens to be in the right place at the right time.

That's why the Sixers, despite being 18-28 after last night's 112-69 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks, are - hold on to your seeding charts - in the playoff hunt.

We know, we know, that says more about how weak the NBA's Eastern Conference is, but as they say, it is what it is.

The strange truth of the matter is, the Sixers - despite having won only three of their previous 14 games - went into last night's game just two games behind the deteriorating New Jersey Nets for the No. 8 berth in the East.

"It's weird,'' center Samuel Dalembert said, "but the last few seasons have been like that. At the same time, it's a good thing for us because it gives us hope, tells us we're still in the running. It's still weird.''

This was the first of a stretch of seven home dates in eight games, an opportunity to establish a homecourt advantage. The Sixers announced an attendance of 12,507 in the Wachovia Center, but when the various dance and acrobatic entertainment teams began tossing T-shirts in the stands, it seemed as if just about everybody had a shot at one.

The 43-point margin of victory was the Sixers' largest in the arena that opened in 1996-97, and the largest anywhere since a 132-85 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Dec. 8, 1982, in the Spectrum. And as nightmarish as this was for the Bucks (18-29 overall, 5-22 on the road), they've seen worse times this season: They absorbed a 114-69 road loss Dec. 31 to the Detroit Pistons.

"There wasn't much fuel in the tank,'' said Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak, who was without the injured Michael Redd and Desmond Mason. "Having played seven games in 10 nights, there wasn't much [the players] could call upon. I know they're tired, but we need to get our energy up, rest up and get our feet back under us.''

Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks respectfully pointed out that, "We've all been involved in these types of games; you can't make a shot, layups, jump shots, anything you shoot does not go down.''

Nor does the ball necessarily go in the direction you want, either. The Bucks shot 38 percent from the floor and gave up 25 points on 21 turnovers. The Sixers, who led by as many as 47 points, shot 54.3 percent and handed out 29 assists on 44 field goals, giving up just six points on nine turnovers.

This was terribly lopsided in just about every category: 68-30 in the paint, 16-6 on second chances, 32-9 on the fastbreak, 45-33 on the glass.

"That was a game for us from start to finish,'' Cheeks said. "Our energy just pushed our level of play up. We concentrated on pushing the ball up the floor, getting into the penalty early, and our defense stayed pat throughout the whole game.''

The Sixers finished with seven men in double scoring figures, led by Andre Iguodala with 18 points and Thaddeus Young and Andre Miller with 14 each. Reggie Evans, coming off the bench for the second game in succession after starting the first 44 at power forward, matched his season high of 13 but stymied himself with 3-for-13 foul shooting.

"I just wish I could have hit my free throws,'' Evans said. "In the past, I've shot better when I've shot a lot of free throws. Unfortunately, it kind of backfired on me today.

"It was all good, though. We won. That's a season high right there. That's the main thing, all that matters. The fans are going to remember that; they're not going to remember that Reggie needed one more point.'' *