Donyell Marshall

John Lucas has warned all season that no NBA team is going to feel sorry for the 76ers. The Golden State Warriors, a team turned upside down since November, would be the last team to show any mercy. The Sixers learned that fact the hard way last night, squandering perhaps their best start of the season as the Warriors regrouped and rolled to a 98-85 victory. Thus, the Sixers started a six-game road trip, the second longest of their season, with a loss that dropped them to 15-37.

The people in Donyell Marshall's hometown of Reading want him to go high in the NBA draft, but maybe not that high. That's in deference to the 76ers, who hold the No. 6 pick June 29. "When I walk around the streets at home, people say they want me to go high, but they want me to fall to No. 6, so they can see me play," Marshall said after going through a workout and interview with the Sixers yesterday. Marshall, who set a University of Connecticut record with a career total of 245 blocks, would appear to be a top five pick, along with Purdue's Glenn Robinson, California's Jason Kidd, Duke's Grant Hill and Michigan's Juwan Howard.

The 76ers are close to signing 6-foot-9 veteran forward Donyell Marshall, according to a league source. Marshall could meet today with the Sixers and sign a veteran-minimum contract - for an estimated $1.26 million - sometime this week. Marshall, 35, was recently waived by Oklahoma City. The source said the Sixers had been in discussions with Marshall since last week. A native of Reading, Pa., Marshall has played in 932 NBA games and has career averages of 11.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Is this the final move? The 76ers and general manager Ed Stefanski officially announced the signing of veteran forward Donyell Marshall yesterday. Per team policy, the Sixers would not disclose terms of the agreement, but the contract is believed to be for the veteran minimum, which, for a player such as Marshall with 14 years in the league, would be $1.26 million. The addition of the 6-foot-9 Marshall is the Sixers' sixth free-agent signing, including two of their own, since the blockbuster addition of two-time all-star power forward Elton Brand in early July jump-started what turned out to be a very busy summer for the organization.

In a season filled with long-range shots and long-lost hopes, the Golden State Warriors have had little to celebrate. At least now they will have one night to remember. The visiting Warriors, shattered by the trade of Chris Webber and the ouster of coach Don Nelson, set an NBA record with 17 three-pointers last night in a 123-109 victory over Minnesota. Chris Mullin led the barrage with 22 points and six "threes," and rookie Donyell Marshall, in his return to the arena where he began his pro career, set the mark with a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Donyell Marshall knows he won't be the 76ers' go-to guy this season. The 6-foot-9 power forward, who signed a veteran minimum contract Tuesday, understands the man above him on the depth chart - two-time all-star Elton Brand - will get the lion's share of the minutes. That's fine with Marshall. "I know there are going to be times I won't even touch the floor," said Marshall, 35, who has been in the league since 1994. But when he does get in, he knows his role: spread the floor and make shots.

Chris Walker had set up the play perfectly, Greg Woodard was spotted up beyond the three-point arc, seemingly all alone. Woodard's form was perfect. But just as the ball left Woodard's hand, an arm seemed to reach halfway to the ceiling of Gampel Pavilion. Donyell Marshall, the freshman from Reading High, blasted the shot back into the press table. Marshall accepted a high five. Then, he just stood back and smiled a little as his Connecticut teammates went wild. It was the final chapter in a book he had been writing all game long.

As often as he wears his 76ers jersey, forward Donyell Marshall sits on the Sixers bench in street clothes. Through 15 games this season, Marshall has split time on the inactive list with veteran center Theo Ratliff. Between them is 27 completed NBA seasons: Marshall is in his 15th season, Ratliff his 14th. When Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski signed Marshall in August, Stefanski spoke of Marshall's outside shot, saying: "His ability to stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting will prove to be a great asset for our team.

Donyell Marshall picked a good year to be a free agent. The Toronto Raptors forward from Reading High School is averaging 11.7 points and shooting a career-high 41.7 percent from three-point range. No doubt his percentage was helped by a record-setting performance against the 76ers on March 13. Marshall, 31, scored 38 points that night and hit 12 of 19 shots from behind the arc, tying the single-game NBA record for three-point field goals. In his 11th season, the 6-foot-9 Marshall is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $5.3 million this season.

This was the game Donyell Marshall always dreamed about, not because he was the dominant player in a blowout victory for his Toronto Raptors, but because one of the best performances of his career came against the team he watched as a kid in Reading. Marshall destroyed the 76ers last night at the Air Canada Centre with an NBA-record-tying 12 three-point field goals in the Raptors' 128-110 win, and was thrilled that his family and friends got to see the game back home. "I'm proud because it's against Philadelphia and I know that my hometown was watching," the 6-foot-9 forward said afterward.

ORLANDO - They call him "Big Homie," after the degenerate clown, and "Secret Weapon," and a couple of other things, all in good fun. The young Sixers squad loves Donyell Marshall in general, his pleasant acceptance of their nicknames, his 15 years of wisdom, his willingness to share his knowledge, his upbeat nature despite having played a career-low 189 minutes this season. Last night, they loved his shooting stroke. Marshall's 11 points in the first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter helped the Sixers complete a comeback from an 18-point deficit to win, 100-98, in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Magic.

Three minutes, 46 seconds. Those were the numbers on the Palace of Auburn Hills scoreboard last night. The time remaining, in gold bulbs on the game clock, time enough for the 76ers, finally, a quarter through this season, to get that statement victory. They did, beating the Detroit Pistons, 96-91. They did it with their leading scorer and newly acquired franchise player, Elton Brand, in Philadelphia with a strained right hamstring. They did it with Allen Iverson, the Sixers' former scoring leader and franchise player for nearly a decade, wearing the white, blue and red of the Pistons.

As often as he wears his 76ers jersey, forward Donyell Marshall sits on the Sixers bench in street clothes. Through 15 games this season, Marshall has split time on the inactive list with veteran center Theo Ratliff. Between them is 27 completed NBA seasons: Marshall is in his 15th season, Ratliff his 14th. When Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski signed Marshall in August, Stefanski spoke of Marshall's outside shot, saying: "His ability to stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting will prove to be a great asset for our team.

Donyell Marshall knows he won't be the 76ers' go-to guy this season. The 6-foot-9 power forward, who signed a veteran minimum contract Tuesday, understands the man above him on the depth chart - two-time all-star Elton Brand - will get the lion's share of the minutes. That's fine with Marshall. "I know there are going to be times I won't even touch the floor," said Marshall, 35, who has been in the league since 1994. But when he does get in, he knows his role: spread the floor and make shots.

Is this the final move? The 76ers and general manager Ed Stefanski officially announced the signing of veteran forward Donyell Marshall yesterday. Per team policy, the Sixers would not disclose terms of the agreement, but the contract is believed to be for the veteran minimum, which, for a player such as Marshall with 14 years in the league, would be $1.26 million. The addition of the 6-foot-9 Marshall is the Sixers' sixth free-agent signing, including two of their own, since the blockbuster addition of two-time all-star power forward Elton Brand in early July jump-started what turned out to be a very busy summer for the organization.

The 76ers are close to signing 6-foot-9 veteran forward Donyell Marshall, according to a league source. Marshall could meet today with the Sixers and sign a veteran-minimum contract - for an estimated $1.26 million - sometime this week. Marshall, 35, was recently waived by Oklahoma City. The source said the Sixers had been in discussions with Marshall since last week. A native of Reading, Pa., Marshall has played in 932 NBA games and has career averages of 11.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Donyell Marshall picked a good year to be a free agent. The Toronto Raptors forward from Reading High School is averaging 11.7 points and shooting a career-high 41.7 percent from three-point range. No doubt his percentage was helped by a record-setting performance against the 76ers on March 13. Marshall, 31, scored 38 points that night and hit 12 of 19 shots from behind the arc, tying the single-game NBA record for three-point field goals. In his 11th season, the 6-foot-9 Marshall is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $5.3 million this season.

This was the game Donyell Marshall always dreamed about, not because he was the dominant player in a blowout victory for his Toronto Raptors, but because one of the best performances of his career came against the team he watched as a kid in Reading. Marshall destroyed the 76ers last night at the Air Canada Centre with an NBA-record-tying 12 three-point field goals in the Raptors' 128-110 win, and was thrilled that his family and friends got to see the game back home. "I'm proud because it's against Philadelphia and I know that my hometown was watching," the 6-foot-9 forward said afterward.

P.J. Carlesimo, whose tenure at Golden State was marked by the Latrell Sprewell choking episode two years ago, was fired yesterday by the Warriors. Carlesimo, whose coaching style was questioned both before and after the Dec. 1, 1997, attack, fell victim of his own poor record. In his third season with the Warriors, the team was 6-21 - the second-worst mark in the league. He had an overall mark of 46-113 with Golden State. "It's been very difficult," said general manager Garry St. Jean, who took over as coach.

Defense and execution - do both well for 48 minutes, and you can walk off the floor with a victory. That's what the 76ers did last night in winning on the road for the first time in more than six weeks. The Sixers received 22 points and 11 rebounds from Derrick Coleman and huge jumpers from Jim Jackson and Allen Iverson in the waning moments and held on for an 85-78 victory over the Golden State Warriors in front of 12,757 at Oakland Coliseum. The road win was the Sixers' first since Nov. 13 against Dallas and ended their six-game losing streak in the process.