The Philadelphia 76ers never relinquished the lead after a Jodie Meeks 3-pointer made the score 11-9 just over five minutes into the first quarter. The Charlotte Bobcats would come close to sneaking an upset over the Sixers a couple times late in the second half, however. Twice they pulled back within two points--at the end of the third quarter and with just over six minutes left in the fourth--but Lou Williams proved to be too much down the stretch, scoring eight of his 23 points in the final 6:11 of the game to lead Philadelphia to a 98-89 victory.
Andre Iguodala didn't do much as scorer, he went just 1-for-6 from the field, but he added nine assists to help the Sixers' cause. Jrue Holiday was among the beneficiaries, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia committed just seven turnovers, opposed to 12 by the Bobcats. Corey Maggette and Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
The win was Philadelphia's 20th of the season, in just their 29th game played. Last year, the Sixers needed 45 games to reach the 20-win mark. The Bobcats will go on being the arguably the NBA's worst team following the loss. Their 3-25 record puts them 18 games behind the Miami Heat in the Southeast Division.
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