The Sixers aren't the Phillies, whose run of 123 consecutive sellouts at Citizens Bank Park is not expected to slow down amid their championship hopes.
The Sixers always have been the franchise that had to work a little harder, win a little more, have a magnetic personality to keep its share of Philadelphia's sports entertainment ticket pie.
And when the right circumstances do not all come together, Philadelphia lets the Sixers know by not showing up for games.
Welcome to the tempest.
After a dismal 3-13 start, the Sixers are 29-17 over their last 46 games.
They are 32-30, two games over .500 for the first time in almost 2 years.
The Sixers are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
By all accounts, since that bad start, the Sixers have transformed into an entertaining and winning basketball team that would typically get support from the locals.
It isn't happening. Not here. Not yet.
"We've still got to win them over," coach Doug Collins said. "We can't be a flash in the pan."
On Sunday, the announced attendance was 11,294 for the Sixers' 125-117, overtime victory over the Golden State Warriors.
You could say, "Oh, that's because it was the lowly Warriors." But last week only 13,509 were in the house for a game against the Dallas Mavericks - one of the top teams in the NBA - with the Sixers riding a four-game winning streak.
In 31 home games, the Sixers have had just two crowds of more than 20,000 - the season opener against the Miami Heat and a December game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Sixers rank 27th in home attendance at 13,952 fans per game. If that pace continues, it would be the lowest for a season since 11,935 in 1995-96.
What's worse is their home attendance percentage is by far the lowest in the league at 68.7 percent capacity.
