NEWS & NOTES

Upcoming Games:

Tonight at Washington: The Sixers swept all four meetings vs. the Wizards last season while averaging 105.8 points on 51.3% shooting… Eddie Jordan coached Washington for six years, guiding the team to four straight playoff appearances from 2004-05 through 2007-08… prior to Jordan’s arrival, the Wizards made the playoffs once over a 16-year span.

Tomorrow at Boston: This will be the second of four meetings between Boston and Philly this season… the Sixers held Ray Allen to 5 points on 2-of-8 shooting in the first matchup earlier this month after he averaged a series-high 20.7 points on 58.5% shooting vs. Philly in 2008-09.

Friday vs. Atlanta: The Sixers took two of the three games vs. the Hawks last season while not allowing Atlanta to score above 95 points… Andre Iguodala averaged a team-high 20.7 points on 53.8% shooting in those games… in the one game he played against the Hawks last season, Elton Brand had 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Sunday at San Antonio: Philly lost on a buzzer beating shot by Tony Parker at San Antonio back in January, but got revenge with a 22-point win at home over the Spurs later that month… the Spurs ranked second in the league in fewest points allowed last season, but the Sixers averaged 107.5 points on 52.1% shooting against them.

Monday at Dallas: The Sixers had the 50-win Mavericks on the ropes in the last matchup back in January, but Dirk Nowitzki hit the game-winning jumper at the buzzer… Philly held Nowitzki to 36.0% shooting from the floor last season… Lou Williams averaged a team-high 21.0 points against the Mavs in 2008-09.

Team Notes

·The Sixers are 5-8 so far this season but were 13-20 at one point in 2008-09 before finishing with a 41-41 mark.

·Philly is 3-0 in games decided by three or fewer points this season… the Sixers were 6-9 in games decided by three or fewer points in 2008-09… eight of those losses were by one or two points, including three buzzer beaters and four other game-winning shots in the final seconds.

·Philly has allowed 100+ points just once over the past four games (94.3 ppg) after the opposition averaged 103.3 ppg the three games prior… the Sixers are 4-3 when holding opponents below 100 points this season (31-17 in 2008-09).

·The Sixers have hit at least 5 3-pointers in each of the past seven games after not having a streak longer than six games in 2008-09… over the past four games, Philly is averaging 6.8 3FGM after not having more than 5 3FGM in any of the four games prior (4.5 per).

·Over the past nine games, opponents are averaging just 5.8 3-pointers made after averaging 12.8 3FGM the first four games of the season… over the past three games, opponents are shooting just 32.7% from 3-point range after shooting 42.9% the four games prior.

·Over the past four games, the Sixers are averaging 10.50 steals after having a total of 11 steals the two games prior… Philly is averaging 8.85 spg this season after ranking fourth in the league with 8.02 spg in 2008-09.

·Philly has recorded a season-high tying 7 blocks in four of the past six games (6.33 bpg)… the Sixers are averaging 5.62 bpg this season.

·Over the past three games, the Sixers are averaging 44.7 points in the paint after averaging 40.2 the first 10 games of the season… opponents are averaging just 39.0 points in the paint over the past four games compared to 43.1 the first nine games of the season.

·Over the past seven games, Philly is averaging 21.1 fastbreak points per game after averaging 15.8 FB ppg the first six games of the season… the Sixers are averaging 18.7 fastbreak points per game this season after ranking third in the NBA with 17.5 in 2008-09.

Player Notes

·Over the past three games, Elton Brand is averaging 19.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.67 blocks in 36.5 minutes per game after averaging 9.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 0.60 bpg in 27.1 mpg the first 10 games of the season.

·Lou Williams scored a career-high 31 points vs. Memphis last Friday and is averaging 23.0 points on 54.1% shooting over the past four games… he has scored 20+ points four times this season (10 times in 2008-09).

·Andre Iguodala is averaging 6.8 assists over the past six games after averaging 3.0 apg the four games prior… he is also averaging a team-high 18.2 points this season after averaging 13.0 ppg the first 17 games last season.

·Thaddeus Young scored 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday after scoring a total of 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting the two games prior.

·Samuel Dalembert has 12 assists in the 13 games this season after having 18 in 82 games played in 2008-09… he’s also committed just 10 turnovers over the past seven games (2.8 tpg the first six games).

·Rodney Carney has scored 10+ points in two of the past three games (9.7 ppg) after doing so once his first nine games played (3.0 ppg)… he’s also shooting 6-of-12 from 3-point range over the past four games.

·Over the past eight games, Willie Green has 20 assists to just 2 turnovers after having 2 assists to 5 turnovers the first four games of the season.

·Jason Smith has blocked two shots in each of the past two games and four times overall this season… he is averaging 0.90 bpg this season.