Sixers hang on for win No.20

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Sometimes in sports it's the moves that are not made during the course of a game that are the most important.

That was case Monday night in the 76ers' 98-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats in front of an announced crowd of 13,773 at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Sixers coach Doug Collins knew that he had to do something about Bobcats guard Kemba Walker, who had made some incredible shots on the way to scoring 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. Collins' plan was to get Lou Williams out of the game and get Jrue Holiday on the floor.

Williams noticed it and knew it was coming. He understood why, but before Collins decided to make the move, Williams drilled a 28-footer that pushed the Sixers' lead to 96-86 and ended any hope that the Bobcats would end their losing streak at 15 games with a win over the Sixers.

"That was the dagger," Collins said. "I noticed that Lou was getting a little winded. And then he hits the three."

The Sixers needed just 29 games to record their 20th win of the season; it took them 45 last season to reach that number. Williams made sure of it, coming to life in the fourth quarter and scoring 10 of his team-high 23 points.

Williams actually knew that Collins was thinking of pulling him before he hit the biggest shot of the night.

"That's normal," Williams said. "If somebody hits a couple of big baskets late in the game, he's going to get you out of there, trust me. I appreciated the second thought.

"At this point, we know," Williams continued. "It's very consistent. We know. I was able to make a shot. I was watching and I was waiting for it. But I was able to stay in the game."

Charlotte (3-25) was missing its top two scorers, Episcopal Academy graduate Gerald Henderson Jr. and B.J. Augustin, but was pesky all night. The Bobcats fell behind by 15 points in the second quarter, but they would not go away. Eventually they cut the Sixers' lead to 84-81 on a Reggie Williams layup with a little more than five minutes to play, and it appeared as if they had the momentum.

But that was as close as the Bobcats got the rest of the way.

Thaddeus Young contributed a big game off the bench for the Sixers, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Young connected on all but one of his nine free throws. Holiday carried the Sixers early. He scored 15 of his 19 points before halftime.

Jodie Meeks added 11 points for the Sixers, who also got a good game and some big shots from rookie center Nik Vucevic. Vucevic finished with eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench.

Corey Maggette led the Bobcats with 22 points.

The Bobcats haven't won a game since they defeated Golden State on Jan. 12. They are by far the worst offensive team in the league, and they went into Monday's game against the Sixers having lost their last six games by an average of almost 25 points.

"Charlotte played good tonight," Collins said. "When you play a team like this and you get Corey back, and Kemba Walker hits some incredible shots. They are going to be a hard team to beat when they get everybody back.

"This is a good win for us," the coach continued. "I knew that this was going to be a tough win for us. Twenty wins before 10 losses - a lot of good things tonight."