76ers set to hit halfway point of season

The playoff talk has commenced.

Although Wednesday night's game in Orlando against the Magic will mark the halfway point of this NBA season, the 76ers are already focused on how each win - or each loss - affects their playoff standing.

If the season were to end right now, 41 games before it is scheduled to end, the Sixers would earn the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, no small feat for a team that started this season with a record of 3-13.

The Sixers enter Wednesday's game, the first of back-to-back road contests, with a record of 17-23.

"I think we are developing an identity," Sixers power forward Elton Brand said after Monday afternoon's 96-92 overtime victory against the Charlotte Bobcats. "I hate to say it, but I think those early losses really helped us. We didn't want to lose those games, but I think it helped us grow, and we know how to grind it out at the end."

That notion will be tested in the next six days as the Sixers play four games: Wednesday against the Magic, Thursday at Charlotte, Saturday against the Utah Jazz, and Monday against the Phoenix Suns.

The Sixers did not practice Tuesday; they flew to Orlando in the afternoon.

Monday's win gave the Sixers a 2-0 series lead over the Bobcats, who also are fighting for playoff position. The fact that his team owns the tiebreaker over Charlotte was not lost on Sixers coach Doug Collins.

"We only play them three times, so we get the tiebreaker as the season goes on," Collins said after Monday's game. "The last two games we have won are against teams that we are jockeying [with] for a position with as we get into the Eastern Conference and move into the second half of the season. I see six playoff teams in the East. I see six or so fighting for two spots, and I hope we are going to be one of them."

Protecting home court. The Sixers finished the 2009-10 season with a record of 12-29 at the Wells Fargo Center, their home arena, which was then named the Wachovia Center. This season, the Sixers already have matched that win total, holding a record of 12-7 at home. Before the season began, Collins said that improving the team's home record was one of his main concerns.

Injury status. Forward Andre Nocioni, who missed Monday's game with a fractured and dislocated right middle finger, is listed as day-to-day. The team has set no timetable for his return.