Sixers happy after snapping road skid

DENVER - There was a buoyant atmosphere in the 76ers locker room after their surprising road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Now they have a chance to follow up Sunday night's rarity - their first road win in 13 tries - with something that hasn't been accomplished since the first week of November.

A victory over Denver on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center would mark the Sixers' first winning streak since opening the season with consecutive triumphs over Miami, Washington and Chicago.

Anything is possible based on their 111-104 victory against the Lakers.

The Sixers (9-21) are coming off one of their better performances of the season. They committed just 10 turnovers and only yielded eight fastbreak points - two areas where they've struggled.

"And as a team, we shared the ball," coach Brett Brown said.

The Sixers had five double-digit scorers in Thaddeus Young (25 points), Evan Turner (22), Spencer Hawes (19), Michael Carter-Williams (13) and James Anderson (11).

But it was the late heroics by Young and Turner that enabled the team to win its first road game since Nov. 1. The Sixers improved to 2-13 away from the Wells Fargo Center.

Young, a 6-foot-8 power forward, also had nine rebounds, three steals and three assists. Turner, a 6-6 guard, added seven rebounds and a team-high six assists after missing Saturday's setback at Phoenix with a sore right knee.

The duo combined for 17 of the Sixers' 25 fourth-quarter points.

"We are two of the three leaders on this team," Young said. "So we have to kind of step up in the midst of when the fire is getting ready to start.

"I think we did a very good job of staying poised and making shots, and just being patient."

With the Sixers clinging to a 98-97 cushion, Turner scored on a fastbreak layup and made an 18-foot jumper to give his team a 102-99 lead with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left.

Young scored his team's next five points on a layup and a three-point play to give the Sixers a six-point edge with 1:15 to play. Then Turner put an exclamation point on the win with a reverse dunk with 0.8 seconds left.

Turner hopes road wins will become easier now they were finally able to snap the skid. He said defensive improvement was key.

"We tried to get back in transition the best we could and made an effort on picking up our defense," Turner said. "That helped out a lot."

Now, the Sixers are preparing to face a Nuggets squad they are capable to beating. Denver headed into Monday's game against Miami with a 14-15 record and a six-game losing streak.

The Nuggets prevailed, 103-92, over the Sixers on Dec. 7. Carter-Williams missed that game with a right knee infection and soreness.