IT'S THE MIDDLE of "Death Row" week, as 76ers coach Doug Collins has dubbed the four games this week.
The Sixers have played and beaten two tough teams, Orlando and Chicago, and now host the Miami Heat tonight before going to Atlanta tomorrow.
While it might be easy to gloat over the two triumphs, the coach and his players won't do it. Splitting the next two games certainly would be acceptable, but no one will talk of that, either.
Though the teams they are in the midst of facing are among the upper echelon in the league (not to mention visits by the Lakers, Spurs and Clippers next week), Collins, his staff and players are marching through this stretch the way they have the whole season. They are looking solely at the opponent they are facing next, not looking back or forward.
And right now, it's the Heat, the team that bounced the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs last season in five games.
The Heat comes to the Wells Fargo Center having won five of its last six and eight of 10, with both losses coming against Milwaukee. Miami lost to the Bucks, 105-97, on Wednesday, despite leading by as many as 18 points in the second quarter. LeBron James posted his first 40-point game of the season.
"People talk about what's ahead of you. We're just going to focus in now on the Miami Heat," Collins said yesterday after the team's practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "Let's see how we do and then move on to the next game. I think our guys have done a great job of that."
That's translated to 16 wins in 22 games, including 11 of 13 at home.
"Our defense has been really, really good. Really, really good," said Collins, whose team allows a league-low 85.9 points per game.
Collins was pleased that the Sixers were able to keep Bulls guard Derrick Rose in check, especially considering that point guards Andre Miller (Denver) and Deron Williams (New Jersey) were largely responsible for the two home losses.
