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Dalembert Returns to Sixers? Lineup

The Philadelphia 76ers have been nothing but inconsistent this season. After losing two in a row, the team bounced off with six straight victories. What has been a problematic for Philly this year has been bench production. The team struggles to get a consistent output off the bench. The Sixers have lost three of their last four games and in many of these games, they have got superlative scoring and offensive output from their superstar Allen Iverson (32.8 PPG and 8.1 ASG) and fellow star Chris Webber (19.8 PPG and 10.1 RBG).

Despite low production from the bench, the Sixers lead the NBA league in scoring at 103.9 PPG. As they look to shore up this leaky defense, some help may be on the way. Samuel Dalembert has joined the team for the first time since getting hurt in the preseason. Dalembert who has averaged 1.70 blocks per game in primarily a reserve role in his career was showing great promise as a starter near the end of last year. He really showed potential to have a breakout year in 05-06 after his playoff performance against the Detroit Piston?s stout front line last year in a first round loss. Dalembert averaged 11.6 PPG, 12.8 RBG, and 1.4 BPG in that series.

One man cannot do it alone, but at this point the Sixers have to be excited by Dalembert?s return. Improving the team defense is the key to whether or not the Sixers can continue to contend for the Atlantic Division crown and one has to believe that Maurice Cheeks will continue to address this issue.