(AP)

The 76ers had the emotional edge. They had more than 20,000 fans behind them. And they lost.

For the 13^th straight time out, the Sixers lost. This one, Saturday’s 122-103 defeat at the hands of Washington, left the Sixers winless on their five-game homestand, their longest of the season. They haven’t won since Jan. 29 at Boston, and are 0-4 since the trade deadline.

The Sixers (15-44) had a packed Wells Fargo Center at their disposal against the Wizards, with 20,856 fans selling out the building for the first time this season to see the jersey retirement of Allen Iverson. It still wasn’t enough to keep the Sixers from losing for the 23^rd time in their last 26 games.

With 23 games left, the Sixers’ skid begs the question, ‘Will they win again this season?’

(AP)

“This is the truth: if we don’t play better transition defense, and we don’t take care of the ball, then we’ve got some problems. That’s a fact,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “I think there is wins in that locker room.

“If we get back in transition where we just have a chance to guard, and we play together, you move the ball, you co-exist – those are the things that will tie in the chance to win again. If we don’t, I have no idea. I think it’s a lottery.”

Thirteen of the Sixers’ final 23 games are on the road, and only seven of them are against teams out of playoff races. Winning another game this season is a conversation Brown said he has “all the time” with his players.

“He just says, ‘If we’re going to win a game, pull things together.’ All of us believe, every time we step on the floor, that we’re going to win the game,” said Sixers rookie Michael Carter-Williams. “We never go on the floor thinking we’re going to lose. We have to keep working, keep sticking together.

“We’re in the game. We’ve been blown out in the past games. We’re in the game. We just have to hold teams from going on those runs. It goes from eight to 18 in two minutes. We have to stop that.”

The Sixers visit Orlando Sunday.

(AP)

The 76ers have traded center Spencer Hawes to Cleveland, according to multiple reports.

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report the trade Thursday morning, the day of the NBA trade deadline. Wojnarowski reported that the Sixers will receive two 2014 second-round picks, forward Earl Clark and center Henry Sims from the Cavaliers in return for Hawes.

Clark has a $4.25 million team option for next season, and Sims has nothing beyond this season, so the Sixers could financially cut ties with both at the end of this season.

Later in the day, the Sixers got two second-round picks (for an undisclosed draft year) and guard Eric Maynor from Washington in a three-team deal, that also included Denver, in which the Sixers gave up nothing significant. (It'll probably amount to cash.) Maynor has a $2.1 million player option for next season.

Hawes, traded to the Sixers from Sacramento in June 2010, spent nearly four seasons with the team. His two-year deal was set to expire at the end of the season.

The Sixers' initial interest in moving Hawes was to attain a first-round pick in return. As the trade deadline neared, it can only be assumed that Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie lowered his asking price to help facilitate a move.

More on this to come...

(Associated Press)

Tony Wroten said he “ain’t rushing” back from the sprained right ankle that caused him to miss Monday’s game.

That means, when Michael Carter-Williams is off the floor, Evan Turner will be handling point guard responsibilities for the 76ers for the foreseeable future.

In his first crack at playing the point, things didn’t go well for Turner (pictured), in Monday’s 107-99 loss at Washington. Turner played 28 minutes against the Wizards, during which he shot 3-for-10 and finished with 11 points, two turnovers and one assist.

Wroten, who sprained his ankle Saturday at Chicago, is in an ankle boot. He didn’t offer a grade on his ankle sprain, but said it’s a low sprain, and not a high sprain. Since Wroten did not offer a timetable for his return, Turner represents the Sixers’ next-best option to play on the ball, whenever Carter-Williams has to check out of the game.

“I actually get the ball. That’s cool,” said Turner, the fourth-year swingman. “That’s what you want. Get me the rock, you feel me?”

Sixers coach Brett Brown said Turner does not always get into the flow of the offense when he doesn’t feel as though he’s actively involved at that end of the floor. Brown, for that reason, did not hesitate to insert Turner at the one-guard spot.

“I’m going to give Evan the ball,” Brown said. “We’re going to try him a little bit at some point, try that a little bit. We have Lorenzo (Brown), who’s a good backup legitimate point guard. He, too, I expect, will see minutes. And Elliot (Williams) had shown over the course of his collegiate career that he could be a ball-carrier. At times, when Evan isn’t as involved offensively as I wish he were, it’s a good vehicle just to give him the ball. He’s a big capable player and we’ll convert him into what we did with (San Antonio guard Manu) Ginobili at my old job.”

(Times staff / ERIC HARTLINE)

76ers coach Brett Brown said rookie center Nerlens Noel’s shot is “a total rebuild,” something Brown and his coaching staff will address throughout the season.

Brown made that assessment at PCOM Tuesday, following his team’s practice.

“You bucket him up into, ‘Is it a total rebuild?’ and I think Nerlens is a total rebuild,” Brown said. “You do stuff with Evan (Turner)’s footwork, which we’ve done. You do stuff with release points or you exaggerate follow-throughs with Tony Wroten, because everything is a hot stove. Everything is tweakable. I think Nerlens’ is a total rebuild.”

Noel, the sixth overall pick in the 2013 draft, has been seen at Sixers practices working on one-handed shot attempts inside 10 feet. Brown said Noel’s guide hand “sends (the ball) all over the place,” but when the 6-11, 230-pounder uses one hand “he gets the elbow under it and he gets a good-looking shot.”

“He’s wide-eyed and open,” Brown said of Noel, who is working closely with Sixers assistant Greg Foster. “He’s a willing learner because he knows. He’s looking for advice and he’s looking for someone to help him. That’s my job. I’ll be really disappointed if, in April, if we don’t look back and say we made good ground. We helped his shot. It is really hard to change stuff a lot. I think the basic areas we’re looking at are changeable and we’re working with him.”

Other notes from Sixers practice:

• Sixth man Tony Wroten is averaging 12.3 points per game. The rest of the bench is scoring 15.7 points. That 28 points-per-game average is 10^th-worst in the league. Brown said he needs more from his reserves: “It’s in them. There’s no doubt it’s in them. They have a long way to go, and they’ll get there, but it’ll be in time.”
• For the second time in six days, the Sixers will play the Washington Wizards. Said Spencer Hawes, of the Sixers’ opponent Wednesday: “It seems like we always play the Wizards a bunch of times in the preseason or the beginning of the year. It’s kind of nothing new.”

(Associated Press)

WASHINGTON -- Doug Collins isn't interested in talking about himself.

Don't believe it? Keep reading.

In a presser with reporters outside the 76ers' locker room, prior to gametime against the Wizards, Collins spent 83 seconds saying a whole bunch of nothing regarding a report in Thursday's Philadelphia Inquirer -- that the Sixers' brass would prefer it if Collins stepped down after the season.

Collins didn't address specific. Here's what he had to say:
Read more »

(Associated Press)

WASHINGTON – Sixers general manager Tony DiLeo said surgery for Andrew Bynum is “certainly an option,” though the organization is trying to determine the appropriate next step for their injured center and his balky knees.

And, for those wondering, Bynum is still Plan A for the Sixers this season and beyond, according to DiLeo.

Bynum – who has missed the entire season – practiced with the Sixers Feb. 22, with that 5-on-5 scrimmage serving as his first on-court workout with his teammates since being traded to Philly. Bynum has been suffering from swelling in his right knee ever since.

Friday, Bynum said there are no surgical procedures to fix the cartilage issue he's battling in both his left and right knees. However, DiLeo did not dismiss the notion that going under the knife was a possibility for Bynum.

“(Bynum) probably knows as much as anyone. He's seen all the doctors,” DiLeo said Sunday, before the Sixers tipped off with the Washington Wizards.

“Now he has to make a decision, the doctors have to make a (decision) – what’s the next, best step? Is it continuing to rehab? Or go in and do arthroscopic (surgery)? Or is there some other alternative? That’s where we’re at right now.”

For more on DiLeo, pick up Monday's edition of the Daily Times.