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76ers-Nets Preview

Jan 30, 2010 - 8:37 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Philadelphia (15-31) at New Jersey (4-41), 6:00 p.m. EDT

The last time they faced the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Nets were on their way to the worst start in NBA history.

The Nets are on pace to break another dubious league mark, held by the 76ers for 37 years.

Philadelphia will try to push the Nets a step closer to the NBA's all-time worst record with its third straight victory in the season series Sunday night in New Jersey.

The Nets (4-41) suffered the two previous losses to the Sixers (15-31) as part of an 0-18 start, and their season hasn't improved much since then. They're more than halfway to replacing the 1972-73 Philadelphia squad (9-73) as the worst in league history.

New Jersey beat the Los Angeles Clippers 103-87 on Wednesday night to open a four-game homestand and fell 81-79 to Washington on a last-second shot Friday night.

"These are tough losses when you compete this hard," interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. "Everybody across the board was competing."

Before those two games, the Nets were outscored by an average of nearly 20 points during an 11-game slide. They finished that skid by yielding at least 106 points in six straight games on 54.6 percent shooting.

New Jersey held the Clippers and Wizards to 42.1-percent performances, but consistent offense remains an issue for a team that's averaging a league-low 89.9 points. The absence of point guard Devin Harris, second on the team with 15.3 points per game, hasn't helped.

Harris, who missed both previous matchups with Philadelphia because of a sore right groin, has sat out three games with a sprained right wrist. His status is unknown for Sunday.

Brook Lopez, leading New Jersey with 18.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, tried to make up for his teammate's absence by averaging 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds against the Sixers. Philadelphia, however, earned a pair of three-point wins Nov. 6 and Nov. 11.

The 76ers have endured their own struggles since then, including a 12-game losing streak from Nov. 20-Dec. 11. They split their next 20 after that skid but are on a three-game slide, which includes Friday night's 99-91 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Allen Iverson scored 21 of his season-high 23 points in the second half, but Philadelphia couldn't reduce its deficit as Kobe Bryant had 22 of his 24 in the same span.

The Sixers matched a season high with 20 turnovers and have committed 17.3 per game during their skid - 2.9 more than their season average.

"Everyone has to take care of the ball," Iverson said. "We have to put the whole game together and we have to play that way every night. It can become a rhythm or an afterthought to how we play every night. Until we get that way, we're going to struggle at times."

Iverson averaged 31.5 points in his last 15 trips to New Jersey before being limited to four on 1-of-8 shooting in a 111-98 loss for Detroit on April 1.