Friday, February 25, 2011

Sixers reach .500, top Pistons team in disarray

Philadelphia -  Andre Iguodala stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds to lead Philadelphia to a 110-94 win over shorthanded Detroit at the Wells Fargo Center.

Elton Brand added 20 points and matched a season-high with 17 rebounds while Thaddeus Young netted a team-high 24 points on 12-of-15 shooting off the bench for the Sixers, who have won three in a row to reach the .500 mark on the season (29-29). Philly has gone 26-16 after starting the season a miserable 3-13 and is 12-4 since Jan. 2, the fifth best make in the NBA over that span.

"Our guys feel good about themselves," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "We are a growing team that is getting a little swagger."

Will Bynum poured in a season-high 29 points, handed out six assists and grabbed five rebounds while playing all 48 minutes for the Pistons, who were mired in controversy.

Tayshaun Prince missed the game with an upset stomach while Austin Daye, Tracy McGrady, Rodney Stuckey, Ben Wallace and Chris Wilcox were also out. Jason Maxiell was Detroit's only player off the bench.

The Detroit Free-Press reported that all the absent players -- except for Wallace -- either missed part of or all of the morning shootaround as a way to express their displeasure with head coach John Kuester. Wallace reportedly has missed practices and games during the last month because of the simmering issue.

"That's an internal matter right now," Kuester said of the reported mutiny. "The thing that we wanted to do is get the guys [in] who has been at the shootaround. They played their hearts out."

"I don't have any thoughts on anything that is going on," Bynum added. "I just try to stay professional and positive throughout whatever is going on. You know, because it's still a business. It's still my job to be a professional basketball player, so that what I am trying to do."

Kuester was then ejected from the game with three minutes to go in the first half after picking up a pair of technical fouls.

"There is no way I should have been kicked out of that game," Kuester said. "I'm very disappointed. Of all the games I've ever been a head coach in, this is the one I didn't want to get thrown out of."

"I feel bad for John Kuester," Collins added. "You could see the angst and pressure on him. I feel for coaches like that."

Rookie Greg Monroe supplied 16 points and 11 boards for the Pistons, who have dropped three straight and six out of seven overall

"Give Philadelphia credit. They played a good game," Kuester said. "I thought we played hard. We cut our numbers down as you know but these guys gave me everything they had."

Six Shots:

*The last time an NBA team used just six players in a game was Golden State in a 111-103 win over Dallas back on Nov. 24, 2009,

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