Royal Ivey

The drought, at last, is over. The 76ers, in search of back-to-back wins for what has seemed an eternity, defeated the Sacramento Kings on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center, 89-80, giving the team its first two-game winning streak in more than two months. Before Friday, the Sixers (20-26) hadn't won games in succession since sweeping a trio of games against Phoenix, Dallas, and Charlotte from Nov. 25 to 30. The only team in the league to have a longer such stretch is Charlotte, which started an 18-game losing streak the same week the Sixers last won back-to-back games before Friday night.

THERE WAS NO mistaking the tone in Doug Collins' voice after his team dropped a 110-102 decision Tuesday to the Bucks in Milwaukee. Each time a question was asked, Collins' tone rose, until he was almost shouting answers to the questioning media. The frustration was mounting early as the 76ers again got off to a slow start, culminated by three missed shots by Lavoy Allen. Throw in a turnover by Allen, who, after grabbing an offensive rebound under the basket, inexplicably tried to throw the ball out to the top of the key, where it was picked off by Brandon Jennings who turned it into a layup.

What a difference a year, an injury, and a full season have made for the 76ers. The Sixers reached the numerical midpoint of the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season seven games above .500 (20-13) and atop the Atlantic Division. A year later, the Sixers, who have played 42 of their 82 games, are eight games below .500 (17-25), in fourth place in the Atlantic, and hoping that the eventual debut of injured center Andrew Bynum (maybe in late February) will be enough to get them back into the playoffs.

MILWAUKEE - The 76ers fall behind teams so often that if one didn't know better, it might seem like a strategy. They did so again against Milwaukee on Tuesday night, and predictably, they lost again, falling to the suddenly resurgent Bucks, 110-102, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The Sixers lost for the 16th time in 21 games. They trailed 55-47 at halftime, marking the eighth time in nine games that they were behind at the break. The game was billed as a matchup between prospective all-star reserve Jrue Holiday of the Sixers and the Bucks' Brandon Jennings.

Although it seemed that Doug Collins was trying to place more of the blame for his slumping 76ers on the players, the fact is that nothing the coach said after the Sixers' loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday was a reach. The 110-102 defeat was the Sixers' 19th loss in their last 26 games. Once again, they failed to get to the foul line and were unable to start the game with any purpose. Their 7-of-23 shooting from the field left them looking at a 28-18 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

THREE DOG NIGHT had a hit song that included the lyrics: "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do. Two can be as bad as one. It's the loneliest number since the number one. " Two would look really good to the 76ers, as in two straight victories. They haven't been able to pull off that feat since Nov. 30, and though they came close to doing it Monday night, they went into offensive shutdown the last half of the final quarter and fell, 90-85, to the San Antonio Spurs. The loss dropped the Sixers to 17-24, denied them consecutive wins after a 19-point comeback against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, and gets them to the midway point of the season in far less than ideal positioning.

MILWAUKEE -  When Nick Young drove down the right side of the lane and threw down a monstrous slam over any and every Milwaukee Buck on the court in the second quarter, the 76ers leapt off the bench in unison, arms locked, excitedly cheering the throw-down. It may have been the most in sync they were just about all evening at the Bradley Center in frigid Milwaukee. While the play cut the Bucks' lead to 38-33 and appeared to give the Sixers a bolt of energy, Milwaukee quickly upped the lead to 11, and the Sixers found themselves trying to climb out of yet another hole.

Sometimes, it's better to bolster the merits of something by pointing out what is absent rather than by pointing to what is obvious. Such is the case when making the pitch for 76ers point guard Jrue Holiday to earn his first berth on the Eastern Conference all-star team as a reserve selected by the coaches in the coming days. That Holiday and Boston's Rajon Rondo - the deserved East starter at point - are the only two point guards with at least 10 double-doubles and one triple-double speaks for itself.

No moment illustrated this 76ers season better than a 5-plus-minute segment of the fourth quarter Tuesday, when the Sixers were hosting New Orleans. Trailing by 18 after three quarters, coach Doug Collins sent Nick Young into the game. Young had been glued to the bench for the previous seven quarters, as Collins sought a more defensive presence on a team that had allowed an average of 102.4 points during a recent five-game skid. So what does Young do? He pours in 14 points in those 5 minutes, 14 seconds, helping to pull the Sixers to within eight and giving the Sixers and their fans a glimmer of hope in what turned into a 12-point loss.

When the phone rang Saturday in his Maine apartment, the last thing Shelvin Mack expected to hear was that the 76ers were considering signing the 34th overall pick in the 2011 draft to a 10-day contract. "It was a surprise to hear from them, especially since I never worked out for them before the draft," said Mack, who signed the 10-day deal Thursday. "But it's great. I'd rather be here than in Maine. " Mack participated in Thursday's practice, and Sixers coach Doug Collins liked what he saw from the new point guard.