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Sixers bounce the Bucks

Sixers avoid season sweep by Milwaukee

The 76ers' Damien Wilkins goes up for a dunk during the final minute. (Matt Slocum/AP)
The 76ers' Damien Wilkins goes up for a dunk during the final minute. (Matt Slocum/AP)Read more

IN 1973-74, the Milwaukee Bucks were three seasons removed from their lone NBA title and they still had a center by the name of Jabbar.

That was also the last time they swept the season series with the Sixers.

It still is.

Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the Sixers beat the Bucks for the first time in four tries, 100-92. They have 11 games left, only three more at home, in what has been a season gone horribly wrong. They're ninth in the Eastern Conference standings, 7 1/2 games out of the last playoff spot that currently belongs to Milwaukee. So . . .

"Until the math says [we're eliminated], we're going to keep playing like we're fighting for it," said center Spencer Hawes, who finished with 15 points, his seventh straight double-digit effort, and a career-high 17 rebounds.

Fair enough. On Fan Appreciation Night, the Sixers opened up an 18-point lead midway through the second quarter. Early in the fourth, the visitors led by seven. It was still a four-point spread with 8 1/2 minutes to go. Then the Sixers went on a 15-0 run, and that was pretty much it. Well, if you can ever really say that about a team that blew a five-point lead in the closing seconds last week at Denver. The Sixers only scored two points in the final 5 minutes. But they came up with enough stops that it didn't matter. And Damien Wilkins' breakaway dunk off a steal with 41 seconds to go made sure that everyone in the crowd got free Big Macs.

"We finally beat Milwaukee," said coach Doug Collins, who gave the team off from Thursday's shootaround before they head to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers on Friday night. "They're a tough, tough team for us, because of their speed. But [Brandon] Jennings never got started. And in the fourth quarter, our defense was great. We didn't make a lot, but we kept getting the ball back [on offensive rebounds], so at least we kept it away from them . . .

"And Spencer was our ace."

The 6-1 Jennings, who averages 18, had scored 33, 25 and 21 in the previous meetings with the Sixers. This time he had zero, the first time that has happened in his 281-game pro career. He took three shots, in 17 minutes. He didn't play in the last 21 1/2. Over the past three games he'd averaged 5.3 on 5-for-33 shooting.

"I thought we needed some intensity," said coach Jim Boylan, who took over during the season for Scott Skiles. "That was lacking tonight. I felt like I had to do something to energize our team. When you play that position, there comes a lot of responsibility."

For his part, Jennings told a Milwaukee beat writer that he thought he was being singled out. Oh well.

The Sixers, who were coming off a 1-3 western road trip, have won four of their last five in South Philly. The loss was to Miami, which hadn't lost in forever until last night, in a game that was theirs for the taking.

"We're not done [yet]," Collins insisted. "We're going to keep playing, man. You know me. I've never quit before I get to the finish line. I'm not starting now. The city, the organization, mean too much to me. We were dealt a bad hand this year [with injuries, especially to Andrew Bynum]. We have young guys. They're trying to build a nucleus to help make this team right. We have to know who we can count on [going forward]. I can't play any other way."

All five starters and sixth man Dorrell Wright scored between 18 and 13, with Wilkens and Jrue Holiday tying for team-high. Holiday also had six of the Sixers' 28 assists, with as many turnovers.

Milwaukee, which got nine more points from its bench, was led by Monta Ellis' 29. The man whom the Sixers once supposedly had some interest in played the point much of the way in Jennings' absence. Didn't seem to matter. He went 12-for-21, with seven assists, but was only 2-for-9 from the arc. In fact, the Bucks took eight more threes but made two less. Not condusive. Then again, neither is 37-for-89 overall.

Afterward, most of the talk was about Hawes.

"He's been playing out of control," said Thaddeus Young, who had 14 points and seven boards. "Ridiculous. We'll try to keep that ridiculous going. He's had his ups and downs. Now he's picking it up and finishing strong. When he plays like that, with that type of energy and intensity, it makes it better for everyone else. You don't have to do as much, when you have that big guy in the middle.

"We all just want to finish on the right foot, keep doing our jobs until it's over."

Barring something totally unpredictable, that would be April 17 at Indiana. But maybe you never really know for sure. So you play on, just because.

"You're always being judged, you're always being watched, and there's always something you could do to get better," said Hawes. "You can continue to improve, individually and as a team. Whereas this season didn't go as we'd like, there's still some left and there's a bright future beyond that."

We'll have to wait and see. It promises to be an eventful offseason. But that's at least another 3 weeks away.

"We're playing really good basketball," Collins said. "I'm really proud of our guys and how they're coming together. It's really enjoyable to watch them."

For as long as it lasts.