Sixers get sub-stantial effort in win over Bucks

MILWAUKEE - The 76ers played 12 of their best minutes in a long time during the opening quarter last night against Milwaukee, missing only seven of their 18 shots, forcing the Bucks into bad shots and getting 10 points each from starters Jason Kapono and Jrue Holiday.

For some reason, Kapono and Holiday - along with Elton Brand - all played the same amount of minutes in the second quarter, which is to say, zero.

Even more head-scratching was the fact that the Sixers played even better in the second quarter, pulling out to a 13-point halftime lead.

When all was said and done, the Sixers got just their third victory in the past 15 games, pinning a 101-86 loss on the Bucks, their first home defeat in nine games.

Kapono, starting his second straight game due to injuries, and Holiday combined to go 9-for-10 from the floor in the opening quarter, but all it got them was a good seat to watch the second.

They didn't seem to mind, and they saw a good show.

In that quarter, in which the Sixers (25-47) outscored the Bucks, 30-22, and all but four of the points came from subs. Willie Green made all four of his attempts for nine points, and Jodie Meeks played a strong 12 minutes against his old team as the subs hit 11 of 18 from the floor in expanding the lead.

"I think so," Andre Iguodala said when asked if this was the team's finest overall game in a while. "The starters didn't play the whole second quarter, but the bench guys came in and held the lead and increased it for us and played well. Even the starters on the bench, we didn't want to go back in the game. It was a case of coach decided he's keeping us out and those guys were playing well. We've only got 10 guys and everybody is out there playing hard."

It was fun all around for a team that certainly hasn't had lot of laughs this season, but the players were yukking it up plenty last night. They hooted when Kapono drove the lane in the first, got fouled, and playfully protested how rough a game it was. They howled when Marreese Speights, never known as a defensive specialist, helped on a dribble-drive and took a charge along the baseline. They rose and screamed when Iguodala turned a third-quarter steal into a double-pump, windmill slam. And when Jason Smith came out of nowhere for a monster block in the fourth quarter, well, they didn't know how to react. Smith doesn't block many shots, after all.

"We just started off having fun," Holiday said. "It was fun to get up and down the court. I know in the first 10 minutes, I'm not gonna lie, I was tired. We were getting up and down at a fast pace and we got a nice lead and we were having fun doing that. Getting stops and making plays, it's fun playing that way."

With a bench limited to just five subs due to injuries to Lou Williams (low back pain) and Thaddeus Young (fractured right thumb), coach Eddie Jordan freely used his substitutions and got contributions from all his players.

"We were very spirited tonight," Jordan said. "We played together, we did well defensively. We had good camaraderie, good karma, I should say."

It was a solid group effort, and one of the finest this season against a Bucks team that had won 15 of its previous 17 games. The loss dropped them to 39-31.

Green, who led the team with 11 shots, also led with 16 points. Holiday collected 15 points and seven assists, along with six turnovers. Iguodala scored 14 points and did a great defensive job on Bucks guard John Salmons, who was limited to four points on 2-for-12 shooting. Salmons had been averaging better than 26 a game in his last four. Sam Dalembert collected a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Smith had 11 points and Kapono finished with 10.

The only thing that outnumbered the contributions were the laughs by the players during the lopsided game, where the Sixers' lead got as high as 22.

"It's the kind of looseness that comes with playing together, sharing the ball and playing defense" said Brand, who hit his lone field goal, a 19-foot, straight-on banker, in the fourth quarter. "They've [Bucks] really been on a tear, really playing well, so you feel loose and happy for one another."

The defense was very good, limiting high-scoring rookie Brandon Jennings to 12 points and negating center Andrew Bogut, who finished with eight points and three rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench to score a team-high 15.

"We've always had that spirit," said Jordan. "Sometimes it sort of subsides when there are daggers thrown at us. For the most part, we're learning how to fend for ourselves. We're learning how to just keep gutting things out."

And last night, in a rare occasion, they had fun doing it.