PHILADELPHIA — There was Chris Webber sitting on the bench, boos serenading Philadelphia's impact player and the Sixers trailing by double digits to woeful Golden State.
This was not what Webber and the Sixers expected not even two weeks ago when his acquisition was supposed to take them from the fringe of the playoffs to Eastern Conference contenders.
Jason Richardson scored 22 points and Mike Dunleavy added 21 to lead the Warriors to just their eighth road win of the season with a 104-85 victory over the tired Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
Troy Murphy
scored 17 points, and Mickael Pietrus had 14 for the Warriors, who used a 19-7 run in the third to take control. Golden State — now 8-23 on the road — has won three of four on the road.
"We kept making shots, getting stops and never really let them go on a big run to let the crowd get into it," Dunleavy said.
Richardson went 4-for-8 and scored nine points in the third. He swiped a pass away from Allen Iverson during the spurt and scored on a fastbreak dunk that made it 70-57 and broughteven more boos from a very restless crowd.
"We got a good lead in the
third quarter," coach Mike Montgomery said. "We kind of got stabilized and guys made a couple of plays and gutted the thing out."
Richardson's 3-pointer from the left side late in the fourth gave the Warriors a 101-81 lead.
For the third straight game, Webber was basically a non-factor for the Sixers. The five-time All-Star acquired in a stunning trade-deadline deal again sat out long stretches of minutes, including the final 4:38 of the third quarter, and was booed when he was in the game.
He finished with eight points on 3-for-12 shooting in 30 minutes.
"This
is Philadelphia, the toughest place in the world," said Iverson, who scored 33 points with a franchise-record 12 turnovers. "I told him what to expect. I let him know they would expect him to be like the Chris Webber he was."
After averaging 36.3 minutes in 46 games for the Sacramento Kings, Webber reached 30 minutes for the first time in three games. Webber even met with coach Jim O'Brien on Monday to clear the air about his lack of playing time.
They may need another meeting.
Webber said before Tuesday's game that he was used to negativity and controversy surrounding
him wherever he plays. He said he would like to make this situation work but was tired already of answering questions about how well he'll fit in.
"I want to make the best of the rest of the time I have here," he said. "I'm still a great player. I'm not going to ever get used to playing 27 minutes a game. It's something we'll address after the season. Right now our goal is to make the playoffs.
"I thought I was to coming into a situation where I would be utilized as the player that I was."
Webber was out of the locker room before it opened and not available for
postgame comments.
NOTES: The Warriors wore their blue "The City" uniforms of the 1966-67 San Francisco Warriors. The Warriors franchise originated in Philadelphia from 1946-62. ... The 76ers honored Hall of Famers Dolph Schayes, Earl Lloyd and the rest of the 1954-55 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals.
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