Dwight Howard was suspended for the Magic’s Game 6 matchup against the Sixers, but apparently nobody told that to the Magic.

Despite being without their best player, the Magic had their best game of the series, eliminating the Sixers with a 114-89  blowout in Philadelphia.

“Personally, I was embarrassed,” said Sixers’ guard Lou Williams after the game.

After going up two games to one early in the series, it looked like the Sixers were going to make another surprising playoff run. Unfortunately, the young team was never able to put together another solid run, losing their next three games.

While the loss was certainly embarassing, it is not entirely surprising. The Sixers, initially touted as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, never came anywhere close to playing to their potential or meeting expectations this season.

They were wildly inconsistent, and had trouble under pressure. With just a few weeks remaining in the season, the Sixers looked like a lock for the fifth seed in the East, and perhaps had a …

Orlando Magic’ center Dwight Howard has been suspended for Game 6 after throwing an elbow at the head of Samuel Dalembert in the early minutes of their Game 5 win over the Sixers on Tuesday.

The incident occured soon after tipoff, as Howard and Dalmbert were tangled underneath the net, both pursuing the same rebound. Howard threw the elbow as the two were separating. He only received a technical foul at the time, something that did not sit well with Sixers’ coach Tony DiLeo.

“He lives in the three-second lane on offense and defense. It’s tough to defend him or get to the hole when he’s just standing in the three-second lane all the time,” DiLeo said. “He’s a great player. He doesn’t need any advantages.”

That comment ignited a response from Magic’ coach Stan Van Gundy.

“Should I talk about the game, or am I supposed to get up here and lobby for the calls I want next game? Is that …

Despite a valiant comeback starting towards the end of the third quarter from 18 points down (sound familiar?), the Sixers weren’t able to pull out a second straight miracle Wednesday, losing to the Orlando Magic 96-87 in game two of their opening round playoff series.

It looked like the Sixers were going to pull off another stunner when Dwight Howard fouled out of the game with 3:11 left in regulation. The score at that time was 84-76; the Sixers were only down by eight. Unfortunately, they were unable to take advantage of the loss of the Magic’s best player.

The Sixers were able to score nine points after Howard went down, but unlike Sunday night, they allowed the Magic to score 15 points during that span.

Unlike Sunday night, the Sixers did not get the big stops. instead allowing Rashard Lewis to score six of his 16 in the final few minutes.

A big reason why the Sixers had such a huge deficit to overcome was because Andre Iguodala did …

It was a day that set up for a lot of excitement, or a lot of misery. All three of Philadelphia’s active professional sports teams, the Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers, played today, in big games no less.

The Phillies, losers of three straight and reeling after closer Brad Lidge snapped his saves streak at 54, started things off right with a walk-off victory in the ninth inning to win 5-4.

The Flyers, who were anemic in the first two games of their first round matchup with their intrastate rival Pittsburgh Penguins, came out swinging and put the Pens on notice with a 6-3 victory.

Not to be outdone, the Sixers had perhaps the most exciting, and most surprising ending of them all. Largely considered to be heavy underdogs against the Orlando Magic, the Sixers stole game one thanks to a game winning shot by Andre Iguodala with just 2.2 seconds left in regulation.

It was a big time shot highly reminiscent of the other AI, improbable, majestic, and …

Today is a busy sports day as all three active sports franchises have a game, two of which are playoff matches.

The reeling Phillies are looking to snap a three-game losing streak and bounce back after a heartbreaking loss to the San Diego Padres on Saturday. Chan Ho Park takes the mound for the Phillies to face off against Josh Greer of the Padres. Park is coming off a rocky start at Colorado in which he allowed five runs in just 3 1/3 innings. Greer is making his first start of the season in the place of the injured Walter Silver. First pitch is at 1:35 PM on WPHL.

The also reeling Flyers are hoping home ice will provide them with some advantage after dropping the first two games of their First Round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They will need to stay out of the penalty box, and will need more consistency from goaltender Marty Biron if they hope to take back the series. The puck drops at 3:00 PM on NBC.

The final game of today’s …

Even though most of us feel like our sports lives, and even our regular lives, stopped suddenly yesterday with the news that Philadelphia icon Harry Kalas passed away, life does go on.

Despite our common sense of loss, the Sixers still have a game to play tonight against the Boston Celtics, who appear to be their first round opponent.

The Sixers are currently at .500 after losing their previous five games. The Celtics are 60-20, and are most likely going to sit many of their starters, which means the Sixers have a decent shot at winning.

Providing an added boost is the possible return of Thaddeus Young, who has missed seven games with a lower leg and foot injury. The Sixers are a paltry 2-5 during that span.

Coach Tony DiLeo said that Young will play, but not for any extended periods of time.

“He’s going to play tonight,” DiLeo announced. “Short stints. Four, 5 minutes.”

The Sixers, who looked so strong just a month ago, have limped, badly, into the playoffs. …

The 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 98-85 Tuesday, but lost forward Thaddeus Young to an ankle injury.

With 2 minutes, 15 seconds left in the first quarter,Young contested a shot by Atlanta forward Josh Smith, and came down on Smith’s foot. The ankle bent unnaturally, and Young immediately began to clutch it, in obvious pain.

The team said after the game that X-Rays were negative.

“The good news it that it just looks like an ankle sprain, but I’m scheduled for an MRI [Wednesday] morning,” Young said.

The MRI determine whether Young suffered any ligament damage. No timetable has been set for his return.

That being said, the game went on. Despite losing Young, the Sixers played like a team with something to gain, while the Hawks played like a team content with their current standing.

Rookie Marreese Speights attempted to make up for the loss of Young with 16 points in just 26 minutes. Andre Iguodala had 19 points and Andre Miller added 18 of his own.

While the Sixers have several …

Despite making several inquiries regarding interest in a couple of their players, the Sixers ultimately did not make any moves at the NBA trading deadline.

The Sixers made two confirmed phone calls to the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Hornets regarding center Samuel Dalembert, and there was the possibility that they were going to move point guard Andre Miller, who is a free agent at the end of this season.

There was also a rumor that the Sixers and Portland Trailblazers were in discussions about a trade that reportedly included Reggie Evans on the Sixers end and point guard Jerryd Bayless from the Blazers.

According to Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Sixers have confirmed that they did not make any last minute deals.

That means that the team that was the hottest in the league coming into the NBA All Star break, and has lost the first two games coming out of the break, will be the same team that will have to …

The Sixers came into the 2008-2009 seson with lofty expectations. After their surprising success of last season, winning two games against the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs, and signing forward Elton Brand, one of just a few career 20/10 players in the league, many believed that the Sixers would be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

Unfortunately, as these things go, the Sixers have not quite lived up to those expectations. They struggled through much of the early part of the season, as the team tried to adjust to a new style of play that had changed to incorporate Brand. The Sixers’ late season success from 2007-2008 was largely due to their fast paced, run-and-gun style of play. With the addition of Brand, then coach Mo Cheeks adjusted the team’s style of play to fit his low-post, half-court style.

Brand started the season at the small forward position, shifting Andre Iguodala to shooting guard, a position in which he struggled mightily. …

After battling with a shoulder injury for close to two months, Elton Brand is slated to have season ending surgery on Monday.

Brand dislocated his shoulder after landing on it awkwardly in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 17th. The injury forced Brand to miss 16 games and play in a limited capacity for six games since his return.

Brand was lured away from the Los Angeles Clippers this offseason with a lucrative 5-year, $80 million contract and came to Philly with a lot of fanfare. He has so far failed to live up to the high expectations that accompanied his trip over from the West Coast, largely due to trouble adjusting to the Sixers run-and-gun style of play.

That has led many to speculate whether Brand’s signing was worth the money and whether he is a good fit for the team. I’m not going to rehash all that here, but either way, losing a 20/10 guy who is making around $14 million this year for the …

Just hours after ESPN.com basketball reporter Chad Ford reported that Elton Brand has been made available for a trade by Sixers’ GM Ed Stefanski, the embattled forward scored 14 points and had six blocked shots in a little over 25 minutes during Wednesday night’s road win against the Houston Rockets.

(For the record, everyone from Sixers’ beat reporter Phil Jasner to Stefanski himself has said that this is absolutely not true.)

The Sixers won their ninth game in 11 tries on a late go-ahead shot by Andre Iguodala, who had 20 points on the night after a first half in which he went 2-6 for just six points.

Sixers’ coach Tony DiLeo is still easing Brand back into the lineup, just three games removed from a shoulder injury that sidelined the star foward for five and a half weeks. There has been a lot of talk surrounding Brand recently as the Sixers have been playing lights out while he has been on the disabled list. …

During an online chat, ESPN basketball analyst Chad Ford reported that the 76ers have made Elton Brand available for a trade.

Yes … from what my sources around the league are saying, Brand is available. The question is, given how poorly he’s played this year and his huge contract, does anyone want him?

Brand was brought in this past offseason with a lot of fanfare and a fat new contract as Sixers GM Ed Stefanski lured him away from the Los Angeles Clippers, but has so far failed to live up to the hype.

That is largely due to the fact that Brand was out for over a month with a shoulder injury, and spent much of the offseason recovering from a left achilles tendon injury that forced him to miss much of last season. While battling back from those injuries, Brand has also had to adjust to a new style of play than he was used to in L.A.

Brand is thought to be more of a half-court, low …