76ers deep-six shorthanded Pistons

By Paul Levine Feb 27, 2011, 8:20 GMT

Los Angeles - The Philadelphia 76ers are coming together in a good way, while the disgruntled Detroit Pistons players are joining forces to perhaps send head coach John Kuester away for good.

Thaddeus Young scored 24 points, Andre Iguodala had 21 with 11 assists and the Sixers wore down the short-handed Pistons, 110-94 on Friday night.

The surging Sixers (29-29) have finally reached the . 500 mark this season after a 3-13 start.

'We always thought we could get to . 500,' Young said. 'We know we're a good team, so it's basically been us coming together and saying, 'OK let's put our foot down.''

Elton Brand collected 20 points with a season-high-tying 17 boards for the Sixers, who had a whopping 31 fast-break points against the visitors.

Will Bynum poured in a season-high 29 points for the Pistons (21- 39) who dressed only six players en route to their sixth loss in seven games.

'With six players, we knew it was going to be tough minutes-wise, so we just tried to give it our best effort,' said Bynum, who logged a full 48 minutes. 'They kept throwing different lineups at us. I think it wore us down.'

The night capped a strange day in which Tracy McGrady, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chris Wilcox missed the morning shoot- around. Ben Wallace also was absent due to an ongoing family matter.

Austin Daye and Rodney Stuckey both showed up as practice ended because they missed the team bus, leaving Jason Maxiell as the only reserve.

They were all benched for one reason on another in what the Detroit News is quoting a team source as a 'player protest.'

Perhaps it's a coup to fire Kuester?

Asked what's going on and whether they will face suspensions, 'It's an internal matter, right now,' Kuester said. 'It's something that we'll be discussing.'

Kuester was ejected from the game with three minutes left in the first half after picking up a pair of technical fouls for complaining to officials about a missed call.

'Of all the games I've ever been a head coach, this is the one I did not want to get kicked out of,' Kuester said. 'There's no way I should have never been kicked out of this game.'

The Sixers pushed the ball up court often against their short- handed opponents. Ahead by 10 at halftime and 86-75 after three quarters, they pulled away as the Pistons tired.

Elsewhere in the NBA:

Cleveland Cavaliers 115, New York Knicks 109

Antawn Jamison scored 28, J.J. Hickson had 24 with 15 rebounds and the Cavaliers (11-47) dropped Carmelo Anthony to 1-1 since joining the Knicks. Amar'e Stoudemire scored 31 points as visiting New York's (29-27) had its three-game winning streak halted. Anthony and Chauncey Billups, both acquired from Denver in a blockbuster trade this week, finished with 27 and 26, respectively.

Orlando Magic 111, Oklahoma City Thunder 88

Dwight Howard had a season-high-tying 40 points, with 15 rebounds and six blocks, powering the Magic (37-22) to its third win in four games. Kevin Durant led the visiting Thunder (36-21) with 23 points and 16 rebounds.

Miami Heat 121, Washington Wizards 113

Dwyane Wade scored 41 points, LeBron added 25 and the Heat (43-16) jumped ahead of idle Boston (41-15) atop the Eastern Conference standings. Nick Young scored 38 for Washington (15-42), which fell to 1-28 on the road.

San Antonio Spurs 106, New Jersey Nets 96

Argentine Manu Ginobili scored 26 points, and the NBA-best Spurs (48-10) spoiled Deron Williams' Nets (17-41) debut with their 20th consecutive home win. Williams had 14 points and 12 assists after the All-Star guard was shipped by Utah in a multi-player swap on trade deadline Thursday.

LA Lakers 108, LA Clippers 95

Kobe Bryant fired in 18 of his 24 points in the decisive third quarter and the Lakers (41-19) rolled to their third straight victory.

Portland Trail Blazers 107, Denver Nuggets 106 (OT)

LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points with 14 rebounds, and the game- winning free throws with 23 seconds left in overtime, lifting the Blazers (33-25) to their seventh win in eight games. Danilo Gallinari scored 30 in his Nuggets debut but visiting Denver (34-26) fell to 2- 1 since dealing Carmelo Anthony to New York this week.

Charlotte Bobcats 110, Sacramento Kings 98

Stephen Jackson scored 30 points, Gerald Henderson had 10 of his 21 in the final quarter and the Bobcats (26-32) pulled away from the visiting Kings (14-42). Phoenix Suns 110, Toronto Raptors 92

Marcin Gortat had 17 points with 11 rebounds, Vince Carter also scored 17 and visiting Suns (29-27) beat the Raptors (16-43) for the 13th consecutive time.

New Orleans Hornets 95, Minnesota Timberwolves 81

Trevor Ariza scored 18 points, Chris Paul had 17 and the Hornets (35-25) handed the T-Wolves (13-46) their seventh straight loss. Utah Jazz 95, Indiana Pacers 84

Al Jefferson scored 30 points, Paul Millshap had 23 with a season- high 18 rebounds, and the visiting Jazz (32-27) gave Ty Corbin his first coaching win after four losses since replacing retired Jerry Sloan.

Atlanta Hawks 95, Golden State Warriors 79

Josh Smith scored 26, Al Horford added 22 with 12 rebounds and the visiting Hawks (35-23) snapped a three-game slide.

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