Sixers find their way past Nets

NEWARK, N.J. - The 76ers regressed a little bit on Tuesday night.

Their offense was a little sloppier, their execution a little less precise, and their flow a little less fluid.

But, imagine this, the Sixers still won.

And they won on the road, beating the New Jersey Nets, 82-77, Tuesday night at the Prudential Center.

It was only the Sixers' second victory away from the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers improved to 9-15. The Nets, led by Brook Lopez's 16 points, dropped to 6-19.

The Sixers made only 40.5 percent of their shots from the floor, but the Nets were even worse, shooting 34.1 percent.

The bulk of the Sixers' effectiveness on Tuesday night came from their starting front line of Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes. Brand finished the night 7 for 14 from the field with 15 points. Hawes finished with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting.

Despite seeming somewhat disjointed on the offensive end, the Sixers took the lead with 9 minutes, 17 seconds left in the first quarter and never trailed again. They led by 26-20 after the first, 40-34 at halftime, and 59-55 at the end of the third quarter.

Excusing a tense moment with 34.6 seconds left in the game when New Jersey's Travis Outlaw made a three-pointer to close the score to 80-77, the Sixers never seemed in danger of losing.

The first half was also a game without flow. Neither team could get a foothold on any sort of offensive rhythm, and what resulted was a collection of points - on both sides of the stat sheet - but no distinct hold on the game.

Hawes only played the first 7:25 of the first quarter. He nailed a trio of jumpers, including a three-pointer, but was forced to leave the game after collecting his second foul.

Sixers coach Doug Collins played 10 players in the first half, going to his bench for an offensive spark that didn't exactly materialize the way it had in previous games. The high-scoring combination of reserves Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young finished the first half a combined 1 for 4 from the field with two points.

The Sixers, who rely heavily on off-the-bench scoring, had only 10 first-half bench points.

The Nets had only 13 first-half bench points.

After holding the New Orleans Hornets to record-low shooting percentages on Sunday, the Sixers continued that trend by limiting the Nets to only 31 percent shooting from the floor in the first half.

In the half, New Jersey was 13 for 42 from the field, unable to finish around the rim and committing eight turnovers.

On multiple first-half possessions, the Sixers were also bobbling the ball and losing dribbles. The display was unlike the precision the team had shown lately.

At halftime, the Sixers also had eight turnovers, with three of them belonging to point guard Jrue Holiday.