76ers 87 - 93 Bucks
Final - OT
  for this game

Playoff-bound 76ers visit desperate Bucks

Apr 2, 2011 - 2:41 PM (Sports Network) - A day after clinching a playoff berth, the Philadelphia 76ers will kick off their final road trip of the regular season against a desperate Milwaukee team.

The Sixers, who will also visit Boston next Tuesday before finishing the 2010-11 campaign with four straight home games, locked up a postseason spot on Friday when Thaddeus Young finished with 22 points and Elton Brand scored 21 in a 115-90 rout of the New Jersey Nets in the City of Brotherly Love.

"It's a great feeling. You never know it's going to happen until it happens," said Brand. "To do it at home in front of my fans is a special feeling."

Surging at the right time, Philadelphia won three straight games and is 37-23 since a miserable 3-13 start. Jrue Holiday added 17 points against New Jersey and Andre Iguodala scored 14.

"This is a great night for our group. We now know we are in the playoffs and we want to keep winning," said Sixers head coach Doug Collins.

The Sixers are currently holding down the sixth spot in the East, 2 1/2 games ahead of New York.

The Bucks postseason chances are dimming by the day, however. Milwaukee is in the 10th spot in the East, four games behind Indiana for the eighth and final playoff spot after falling to the Pacers in Indianapolis, 89-88, on Friday.

Brandon Jennings led Milwaukee with 20 points and seven rebounds in that one. Andrew Bogut added 16 points before fouling out late in the game and Corey Maggette scored 13 off the bench for the Bucks, who have lost three of their last four games.

"This game was a microcosm of our season," Bucks forward Drew Gooden told NBA.com. "Spending all year trying to catch the Indiana Pacers in the standings and trying to catch them in (Friday's) game. We fell one point short."

Milwaukee had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Gooden was off the mark on a three-point try.

"We'd like a better look at that," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said regarding the last shot. "(The Pacers) did a nice job of defending. We weren't supposed to exactly pop out there and end up with that one. It's the shot we got and we just didn't make it."

The Sixers have taken two of three from the Bucks this season but were routed 102-74 in Milwaukee on March 12.






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