And after you ask enough people, that seems perfectly acceptable, because the season has not been about one player carrying them or one aspect of their performance being overwhelming.

These Sixers were picked almost universally to finish last in the NBA's Eastern Conference. Prognosticators put little, if any, stock in their winning 17 of their final 26 games last season, insisting that had more to do with uninterested opponents than anything else.

The new veterans, primarily power forward Reggie Evans, didn't figure to have an impact. The rookies, Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith, weren't ready to contribute. Despite an explosive summer, no one could be certain that young guard Lou Williams was ready to be a rotation player. There were even more questions about Rodney Carney, and whether he could become the shooter he was in college.

Seventy-one fascinating games later, the Sixers are 36-35, above .500 for the first time this season after a pulsating, come-from-behind, 95-90 victory Monday night in Boston.

(Full disclosure: I picked them to win 30 games, five fewer than last season, and didn't feel confident that they could.)

It would be hard to fathom that anyone expected them to beat the Celtics when they were trailing, 80-69, with 8:20 remaining in raucous TD Banknorth Garden. But these are unusual times. The Sixers got the job done with a 19-0 run, with Andre Iguodala accounting for 10 in succession, with Samuel Dalembert shadowing Kevin Garnett man-for-man down the stretch and knocking down two clutch free throws with 17.1 seconds left, with Young contributing seven points and four rebounds in the fourth quarter.

Evans, Dalembert and Willie Green all have had their moments. Dalembert, with 12 rebounds Monday night, has taken at least 10 in 13 of the last 16 games; he has accounted for 25 blocks in the last eight.

With only 11 games remaining, Monday night's performance was much too late to be viewed as a turning point. But it was a product of all that had gone before.

Could this have been the turning point?

"There was a point [Jan. 2 to Jan. 14] when we lost seven games in a row, and, to me, even through that stretch, we still were playing good basketball,'' coach Maurice Cheeks said. "That may sound crazy, but we were.

"There was a home game in there - I don't remember which one - after which I told the players, 'Nothing is going to break me, and I'm not going to let it break you.' ''

They have bent a number of times, but they have not broken. Instead of facing yet another trip to the lottery, they are on track to reach the playoffs for the second time in five seasons. They have shown impressive resilience; in their last 15 sets of back-to-backs, they have won the second game 13 times. Going into tonight's home game against the Chicago Bulls, they have won 10 of 11 in the Wachovia Center. Overall, they've won 18 of their last 23. Who would have thought that could be possible? Or that they could be within striking distance of the No. 5 playoff seed in the conference?

"It's been a gradual thing,'' Cheeks said. "Like Andre Iguodala's leadership. No one would say he's been like this big-time leader, but he's really made a mark on our team.''

Iguodala, who turned down a $57 million contract extension and will be a restricted free agent during the summer, has made a mark on the league, too. He and the Washington Wizards' Caron Butler are the only players in the league averaging at least 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

"We've had hurdles, with injuries, with a trade, with changing lineups,'' Evans said. "Sometimes it took a while to adapt, but we started adapting at the right time.''

Could this have been the turning point?

The Sixers lost by five points Dec. 21 at home to the Los Angeles Lakers, then went to Memphis the following evening and won on a buzzer-beater by Iguodala.

"We won on the shot,'' Cheeks said. "But I remember that was a night Andre Miller saw that he had to score more.''

Miller, averaging career highs of 17.1 points and 50 percent shooting from the floor, is having arguably his best season. He also arguably has been the best point guard in the East.

"When we went on that losing streak, to go into Houston [Jan. 15] and get a win, that was a big thing,'' Miller said. "That was a decent turning point, a character game.''

The Sixers won by four after being down 16 with 2:20 remaining in the third period.

Since then, Miller said, "We got on the same track. Guys are thinking the same, understanding how to move the ball, understanding when to run, when not to run. That comes with practice, and we've had some solid practices, working on time and clock, figuring out how to finish games.''

More recently, he said, "You really don't want to relax, because the teams [behind the Sixers] are trying to catch up, too. You take a quick breath and keep moving.''

That was what they did when they broke a three-game losing streak by winning by 15 in Milwaukee in November. And what they also did that month when, after being down by 25 late in the second quarter, came back to defeat Portland by four.

"We don't have any All-Stars; we have players who have to really work,'' shooting guard Willie Green said. "When you have that, it's an everyday thing. Overconfidence can't come into play. I thought we were always knocking on the door, that it was just a matter of us being able to put together a few wins. Once we were able to do that, things turned around real fast.

"When it does turn around, you realize you can do it every night; your confidence grows, especially on a young team. We understood that if we just played to our strengths - defense, getting back in transition, rebounding, getting easy baskets - we had a chance to win. When we're not doing those things, we kind of kick ourselves in the butt.''

Could this have been the turning point?

Ownership decided that the situation needed to be evaluated through fresh eyes. Despite being on board with the developmental plan devised by Billy King, they replaced him as president/general manager with Eddie Stefanski, the hometown guy who had been the general manager of the Nets and had built a reputation as an excellent talent evaluator.

After less than 2 months on the job, Stefanski gave Cheeks a 1-year contract extension. He also promoted the necessity of playing young and fast, then placing the younger players in different areas of responsibilities in an effort to determine how good they could become.

He made room in the lineup and rotation for Young, Smith, Williams and Carney by trading three-point shooter Kyle Korver to the Utah Jazz for the expiring contract of Gordan Giricek and a future first-round pick. That deal also expanded the available salary-cap space for this summer to somewhere between $10 million and $11 million, enough to allow them to get involved in free agency and/or the trade market.

Young, the No. 12 overall pick in last June's draft, has more than made his presence felt. When the Sixers lost, 119-97, to Golden State Feb. 29 in Oakland, they established yet another beachhead the following evening, winning, 119-114, in Phoenix. Young had 12 points in that game, starting a string of six straight games in which he reached double figures and was 37-for-53 from the floor.

Williams has become a prime offensive force off the bench, Smith has helped in spots and Carney, after nearly all but falling off the map, has begun to help.

But all through the unlikely, the improbable and the sometimes stunning performances, Cheeks said the team has not exceeded his expectations.

"I always talk to the players about 'the moment,' never looking too far ahead, never looking too far behind,'' Cheeks said. "I always said we were as good as any team. I didn't know where it was going to go, but I also said we weren't as good as any [opponent] if we didn't play as hard as we could. A little confidence kind of took over; we began to win a game here, win a game there.

"I was asked if the guys could keep playing hard and not get rewarded. I said to myself, 'It would be hard.' I didn't say it to the players.''

And maybe that was a turning point, too. *