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Sixers show progress by winning without Ish

Critics will point out that none of the 76ers' eight wins have come against teams with records better than .500.

Sixers' Robert Covington celebrates a fourth-quarter three point basket with teammates Jahlil Okafor and Hollis Thompson against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, February 6, 2016 in Philadelphia.
Sixers' Robert Covington celebrates a fourth-quarter three point basket with teammates Jahlil Okafor and Hollis Thompson against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, February 6, 2016 in Philadelphia.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Critics will point out that none of the 76ers' eight wins have come against teams with records better than .500.

But the team took a positive step in beating the Brooklyn Nets, 103-98, Saturday at Wells Fargo Center.

"To find a win without Ish [Smith], who in many ways has been linked to our wins after Christmas, I think the group in itself has improved a lot," coach Brett Brown said.

The point guard missed the game after spraining his left ankle Friday in a road setback to the Washington Wizards. Brown expects Smith to return Monday when the Sixers (8-43) host the Los Angeles Clippers.

Very few outside the Sixers' locker room gave them a chance to beat the Nets (13-39) without their lifeline.

That's because the Sixers had been a completely different team before and after Smith's arrival.

They opened the season with 18 consecutive losses and were 1-30 before they reacquired the sixth-year veteran in an exchange for two second-round draft picks in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. And some would argue that they would have been 0-31 if not for Kobe Bryant trying to do too much for the Los Angeles Lakers when his shots stopped falling after the first quarter.

But heading into Saturday, the Sixers were 6-13 with Smith leading the way. The speedster has a knack for finding Nerlens Noel on alley-oop lobs on pick-and-rolls or locating three-point shooters Isaiah Canaan, Robert Covington, Hollis Thompson, and Nik Stauskas beyond the arc.

He also brings a swagger to a squad that appeared on the brink of falling apart before the trade.

"Ish brings a different type of aspect to the game," Covington said of Smith, who also played with the Sixers last season. "We all build off it because Ish has been here for a while and his wisdom and everything that he's done with us has just been a great thing for us."

So no Smith, no victory, or so we thought, especially on a night when Jahlil Okafor drew the assignment of guarding versatile power forward Thaddeus Young.

The thought was that Young, a former Sixer, would have embarrassed Okafor in space. Young did have success, finishing with 22 points - all in the second half - and 10 rebounds mostly against Okafor, who made his third straight start at power forward after starting 37 games at center.

But the 6-foot-11, 265-pounder held his own with 22 points, a career-best 17 rebounds and three blocked shots.

T.J. McConnell played well in place of Smith. The undrafted rookie out of Arizona finished with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting and had six assists.

Noel was on the receiving end of several of McConnell's assists. The center finished with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Meanwhile, Thompson hit a game-high three three-pointers en route to 14 points off the bench. But no one on the team was better down the stretch than Covington.

The small forward gave the Sixers the lead for good at 97-96, draining a 26-foot three-pointer with 1 minute, 16 seconds left. He scored six of his team's final nine points and finished with nine.

"We've grown a lot since October, November, since training camp," Noel said. "Guys are really playing for each other."

That was obvious as the Sixers did not revert to the team that lost 30 of its first 31 games before Smith's arrival.

kpompey@phillynews.com

@PompeyOnSixers

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