Two months into O'Brien's run in his native Philadelphia, it's still difficult to say whether his team is overachieving or underachieving or neither. At 12-14, the 76ers are very much in the midst of the race for the Atlantic Division title and the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs (though not necessarily home-court advantage in the first round), but they've done it in an unusual manner. 6-6 on Nov. 26, Philadelphia lost its next six games to sink near the bottom of the Atlantic. Since then, however, the Sixers are 6-2, winning the first two games of a brutal eight-game road stretch that spans both Christmas (though Philadelphia was able to celebrate at home) and the New Year.

The difference of late has been largely attributable to Allen Iverson. The 2000-01 NBA MVP has averaged 36.3 points over the last eight games, leading the Sixers in scoring in all six wins and dropping 50+ points in consecutive games earlier this month, the first player to achieve that feat since Antawn Jamison in 2000-01 (the first of those back-to-back 50s at KeyArena against the Sonics). Iverson now leads the NBA at 28.7 points per game.

Like the Sixers, the Seattle SuperSonics are coming off of a road win Monday night. The Sonics went into Utah and earned their first win in Salt Lake City in more than four years, clamping down defensively on the Jazz during the fourth quarter for a 98-88 victory. The Sonics will be looking to shake an odd streak tonight - they've won four straight games in Philadelphia, but have lost to the 76ers three straight times at KeyArena, splitting the season series each of the last three years. They already took care of the winning at the Wachovia Center in November, pulling out a 103-95 victory on the strength of an NBA-season-high 18 three-pointers. O'Brien chose to overplay the Sonics effective pick-and-rolls, leaving open shooters on the wings who took full advantage of their opportunities (Ray Allen hit seven threes, Vladimir Radmanovic six). Expect the Sixers to change things up tonight, especially if the Sonics most dangerous player on the pick-and-roll, guard Antonio Daniels, is unable to go because of tonsillitis (he's missed the last two games and is questionable tonight).

G U A R D S
	One of the biggest changes O'Brien made was moving Iverson to point guard, the first time he's played there regularly since the 1997-98 season. The switch seems to have taken; while turnovers have been an issue (Iverson leads the NBA at 4.3 per game), Iverson also ranks amongst league leaders with 7.1 assists per game (eighth) and his scoring obviously hasn't taken a hit. The Sonics plan for stopping Iverson requires making him a jump-shooter and keeping him off the free-throw line. That's often easier said than done, but it worked to perfection in Philly last month; Iverson attempted just six free throws and, though he scored 26 points, took 26 shots to do so. Result? Sonics win. Luke Ridnour did a great job of chasing Iverson around that night, and still had enough energy on offense to hand out 10 assists. Ridnour started to shake a recent shooting slump last night in Salt Lake.
	A second-round pick of the Sonics who was dealt on draft night, Willie Green might qualify as one of those players O'Brien is giving more action than he ought to. Green has flashes of brilliance that make people think he's a top prospect, but the overall product just isn't that good. Green is shooting a paltry 36.4% from the field and 32.6% from three-point range, simply inadequate for a shooting guard who is not particularly prolific at putting the ball in the hole (8.1 points per game). Green is a good defender despite his 6-2 size and can handle the ball, but the Sonics should make him outshoot them (though not if he gets hot; Green is streaky). Allen is in a minor slump as well; he hasn't matched his seven threes against Philly in his last five games, shooting 6-for-36 (16.7%) from downtown during that stretch. Still, last night was only the sixth time this season Allen has failed to score 20 points, and he's dropped 19 in three of those.
F O R W A R D S
	The Sixers were ecstatic when Arizona swingman Andre Iguodala slipped to their ninth pick of this year's draft. Iguodala was considered a top-three pick because of his versatility and hasn't disappointed in that regard, averaging 5.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals, the latter mark good for the NBA's top ten. Offensively, Iguodala is still a work in progress. In 30-plus minutes a night, Iguodala is only averaging 8.9 points, but he's shooting a solid 46.7% from the field. Like most Sixers players who aren't considered Ashton Kutcher-look-alikes, Iguodala isn't much of a three-point threat (take away that player, reserve wing Kyle Korver, and Philadelphia is a dismal 79-for-257 from downtown as a team (30.7%)). Rashard Lewis led the Sonics with 22 points in Utah, giving him a four-game streak of 20-plus points for the third time this season.
	Only John Kerry had a worse month of November than Kenny Thomas. The veteran forward, who established himself as a quality starting power forward the last two years, shot 32.6% from the field in the month, losing playing time. Thomas has been his usual self in December, averaging 11.6 points and 7.4 rebounds and shooting an even 50.0% from the field. Like his Sonics counterpart, Reggie Evans, Thomas is on the short side for the power forward position, but uses hustle to make up for that disadvantage and averaged a double-double last season. Evans scored nine points and hit both of his field-goal attempts last night, but was surprisingly quiet on the glass with four rebounds.
C E N T E R
	"Free Samuel Dalembert!" cried NBA fans nationwide who saw the young 76ers center glued to the bench after a breakout 2003-04 campaign that saw him rank sixth in the NBA in blocked shots. Dalembert's defensive style isn't well-suited for Harter's system, but he's too good of a player to sit on the bench. In eight games since returning to the starting lineup, Dalembert is averaging 7.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks on 55.6% shooting - and oh, yeah, Philadelphia has rattled off that 6-2 run. At the age of 23, Dalembert has emerged as one of the NBA's top young centers. His one weakness is a lack of bulk, something Sonics behemoth Jerome James could take advantage of in the post.
B E N C H
	Dalembert's status as a reserve - if not his meager minutes - was justified by the fast start of veteran Marc Jackson, throwing back to his outstanding 2000-01 rookie season by averaging 14.8 points and 6.6 rebounds and shooting 50.7% from the field. Jackson has actually played more as a reserve, and the 76ers might be best off with him playing power forward alongside Dalembert. Korver has also provided great reserve punch, averaging 11.8 points per game (meaning the Sixers second- (Jackson) and third- (Korver) leading scorers come off the bench at the moment). An incredible 175 of Korver's 244 shots this season have been threes, making him one of the league's most efficient scorers despite a misleading 42.6% field-goal percentage. No NBA regular has ever attempted as many of his shots from downtown as Korver is this season (71.7%). Newcomer Corliss Williamson is another scorer, taking advantage of his size against smaller small forwards, while John Salmons offers perimeter defense off the bench. The Sonics bench has displayed its depth without Daniels, with Ronald "Flip" Murray scoring double-digits each of the last two games. Another beneficiary of extra playing time has been rookie Nick Collison, who has combined for 12 points and 15 rebounds in 37 minutes the last two games. Along with Radmanovic and Danny Fortson, the Sonics continue to boast the NBA's deepest bench.

TEAM LEADERS ALLEN IVERSON Allen 23.9 PPG Iverson 28.7 Evans 8.5 RPG Dalembert 6.8 Ridnour 6.1 APG Iverson 7.1 Ridnour 1.4 SPG Iverson 2.4 James/Lewis 1.1 BPG Dalembert 1.7 Allen 40.5 MPG Iverson 41.5