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Sixers and Nets meet at WFC

Jan 25, 2012 - 3:35 PM (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia 76ers try to continue their home dominance this evening when they welcome the New Jersey Nets to the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers reside atop the Atlantic Division thanks in part to their strong play in the early going at home, where they have won nine of their 10 contests and are in the midst of a seven-game stay.

There's no reason to believe that trend won't continue tonight, as Philadelphia has beaten the Nets eight straight times overall and four consecutive times in the City of Brotherly Love.

Philadelphia enjoyed a laugher on Monday, as Elton Brand had 17 points and nine rebounds to help the Sixers rout Washington, 103-83, essentially costing Wizards head coach Flip Saunders his job. Saunders was relieved of duties on Tuesday.

Brand, who left the morning shootaround with a stomach flu, scored 11 points in the frame on 5-of-7 shooting. Andre Iguodala had 11 assists for Philadelphia, which dished out a season-best 30 as a team and forced five Washington turnovers in the opening stanza.

"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."

Jrue Holiday added 17 points, Jodie Meeks had 15 and Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young netted 14 apiece for Philadelphia, which has won five of its last seven overall.

"You have to call on your veteran guys and I did," head coach Doug Collins said. "I talked to the guys about how important it is for you guys to come out and set the tone (with) what we have to do.

"We have a seven-game homestand here and this is going to be so important to where we're heading."

On the injury front center Spencer Hawes (Achilles) will again miss tonight's contest, while Nikola Vucevic (knee) could return.

New Jersey, meanwhile, comes into tonight's tilt on the heels of a loss after falling to the Chicago Bulls on Monday, 110-95.

Jordan Farmar led the Nets in scoring, dropping 22 points off the bench on 3- of-3 shooting from behind the arc. Deron Williams chipped in with a double- double, adding 16 points to go along with 10 assists. Anthony Morrow, who started in place of the injured MarShon Brooks, had 15 points in the loss.

New Jersey finished up the third game of a back-to-back-to-back, going 1-2. The Nets are 5-13 this season and 3-8 on the road.

"We knew it was going to be a tough one, and they had everybody back in the lineup. You can just tell this is a contender," Williams said. "So, I thought we played well in spots, and we also played bad in spots."

The Nets have lost eight of their last 11 in Philadelphia.