It's getting harder to believe the Sixers' current roll is just one of those fluky things.
It's getting easier to believe it might be the start of something big.
The Sixers played a near-immaculate game to edge the World Champion San Antonio Spurs 103-96 Saturday at the Wachovia Center.
The Sixers have won 15 of their last 19 games. They are within one win of .500 (33-34) for the first time since November.
Had the Washington Wizards not dug out an overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers at home Saturday, the Sixers would have pulled even with Washington for the sixth playoff spot. The sixth spot would mean bypassing Boston and Detroit in the first round.
That argument about whether making the playoffs and missing the draft lottery was even a good idea seems long ago and far away.
"We understand the importance of every game now," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said.
"I think we're gelling at the right time," said Lou Williams, the emerging 21-year-old combo guard.
The Spurs are not. They won 11 straight from Feb. 11 to March 6, lending credence to the theory that they can, and were, turning it on when it counts most.
But now they've dropped five of six, including losses at Phoenix, New Orleans (by 25) and Detroit.
"[The Sixers] play an up-tempo game, and [Cheeks] has done a great job of instilling that in them. San Antonio coach Greg Popovich said. "They're constantly in attack mode. I really think we played well."
Saturday's game was San Antonio's fifth of the week. But they don't get to play the road fatigue card, because by this time of year every NBA team has that one in the deck.
The Sixers were also at the end of a four-game week, including a bad loss at home to Boston, but a gritty 83-82 win at Detroit and a remarkable win Friday in Chicago, where they trailed the Bulls by as many as 18, in the second half, before winning 110-106.
Back-to-back games don't seem to be a problem. On five occasions in 2008, the Sixers have lost, then played the very next night and won.
"Youth," was Cheeks' succinct explanation of that.
"Something we talked about before the game was, you've got to be able to turn around, no matter what happened the night before."
They led most of the way Saturday. Fresher legs may have been a factor, but most of their fast-break run-outs came early. The fourth quarter was half-court, grind-it-out stuff, and the Sixers played that game, too, against one of the league's best defensive clubs.
Attention to detail helps. They made 24 of 28 free throws, and two of the misses came in the last three minutes. They had just five turnovers, and two of those came in the last three minutes.
They got a brilliant defensive job at Tim Duncan, the Spurs' big man and a future Hall of Famer, by Samuel Dalembert. Duncan scored 16, on five-of-14 shooting. On back-to-back possessions down the stretch, the Spurs went to Duncan in the low post, and Dalembert slapped the shots aside.
They got the usual run-and-jump stuff from their squadron of quick, athletic midsize players, notably Andre Iguodala, who scored 25, and Williams, who had 12 and four assists in 23 minutes.
But for all the Sixers' youthful juice, the guy who made the difference on this night, and maybe this season, isn't especially big or quick or bouncy.
Despite all that, Andre Miller finds a way to get where we wants to go. In what may have been the masterpiece of his season-and-a-half run in Philly, Miller scored 32, with seven assists and no turnovers. He missed a total of four shots (11 of 14 from the field, 10-of-11 from the foul line.
He flat destroyed the Spurs' smallish guards (Tony Parker, Jacque Vaughn and Damon Stoudamire) through the first three quarters. After that San Antonio used a mid-sized athletic guy, Bruce Bowen or Manu Ginobili, on him.
The lead was in the 7-12 range most of the way, but the Spurs got to within 90-84 on a Duncan free throw with six minutes left. Iguodala hit a big jumper. Parker, who was terrific offensively and scored 27, answered with a drive through heavy traffic.
Then the Sixers cleared out for Iguodala. Notorious stopper Bowen did everything he could without guns and knives, but Iguodala stuck an ultra-tough jumper.
Then Dalembert got his blocks on Duncan, and Miller hit his umpteenth midrange jumper at the other end. The result was coming into focus, and the assembled 19,942 were going nuts.
What is this, 2001?
"It was great to play in a rocking building like this," Cheeks said. "We were way down at one point [this year], but our players continued to play. That's what I'm proudest of.
"Somebody asked me how long they'd keep playing without being rewarded. Now they're getting rewarded."
This was Allen Iverson's team in 2001. Iverson is now in Denver, with a team on pace to win around 50 games and miss the playoffs in the stacked Western Conference. His old team is on pace to win around 40 and make the playoffs easily.
Guess who comes to town Wednesday?
Mike Gross is a Sunday News sports writer. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
