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Brand helps Sixers rout Wizards

Jan 24, 2012 - 5:18 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Elton Brand had 17 points and nine rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers kept rolling at Wells Fargo Center with a 103-83 victory over the Washington Wizards on Monday.

Jrue Holiday added 17 points, Jodie Meeks had 15 and Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young netted 14 apiece as Philadelphia improved to 8-1 as the host this season.

Jordan Crawford paced the Wizards with 17 points. Andray Blatche and John Wall each contributed 13 for Washington, which dropped its third straight game and fell to a league-worst 2-15.

A pair of Washington turnovers led to back-to-back three-pointers by Meeks near the midpoint of the first quarter, sparking a 15-0 run Philadelphia used to jump out to a 26-10 lead.

"We had to get off to a good start," said Brand. "I took it upon myself to really try to push the action a little bit. I know what their record shows but they have a lot of individual talent and can put up numbers so we wanted to jump on them early."

A long Crawford two-pointer put an end to the spurt, but the Sixers closed out the quarter by scoring seven of the last nine points and carried a 33-14 advantage into the second.

Brand, who left the morning shootaround with a stomach flu, scored 11 points in the frame on 5-of-7 shooting. Andre Iguodala had seven assists for Philadelphia, which forced five Washington turnovers in the opening stanza.

"When we fell behind," said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, "our heads went down."

The Sixers' offense stayed hot in the second quarter, making 68.4 percent of its shots. Philadelphia outscored Washington 29-18 in the frame en route to a 62-32 lead at the break.

"I absolutely loved our attitude about this game," Philadelphia head coach Doug Collins said. "The first half was about as good as we could play. I was worried about running into a buzzsaw here tonight and we never let them get started."

Philadelphia made 26-of-40 shots in the first half, including a 4-for-9 mark from beyond the arc, while Washington went 16-for-38 from the floor and missed all five of its three-pointers.

Washington outscored Philadelphia in both of the final two quarters, but could not close the gap closer than 18 points as the Sixers cruised to the win.

Game Notes

Iguodala finished with a season-high 11 assists...Philadelphia opened a seven- game homestand, its longest of the season, and will also host New Jersey, Charlotte, Detroit, Orlando, Chicago and Miami...The Sixers have won five straight against the Wizards, including all three matchups this season.