"It's not the Sixers' fault that the teams they're playing are awful. They are simply playing the schedule they were given.

Friday night, the schedule had them playing the Charlotte Bobcats, who came into the game with the NBA's worst record at 3-16. The Bobcats were playing without two of their leading scorers, and they had lost six straight and 12 of 13.

In other words, Charlotte didn't have a chance.

The Sixers buried the Bobcats early and coasted to an 89-72 win after losing in overtime Wednesday to the New Jersey Nets.

The Sixers (13-6) remained just one of three teams to not suffer consecutive losses this season — Chicago and Indiana are the others after Orlando lost its second in a row Friday.

Granted, the Sixers have had a generous schedule to help them, not only in the quality of the teams they're playing, but in the fact that most of their games have been at home as they're in a stretch of playing seven straight home games.

Still, it's impressive nonetheless, and something Sixers coach Doug Collins said is extremely important.

"You don't want to get into a situation where you get into a tailspin," Collins said. "The wins are so hard to get, and the losses come quickly."

There was little chance of a loss coming Friday."