Breathe in. Breathe out.

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Andray is getting close to throwing a party, Benjamins only.

Highest Plus/Minus: Oleksiy Pecherov (+9)
Lowest Plus Minus: Brendan Haywood (-17)

In the wake of the loss against Charlotte on Saturday it seems like panic is starting to set in now that the Sixers are only .5 games behind us in the standings for 7th place.  While I understand why everyone is nervous, I think we all just need to take a step back, breathe and look at this rationally.  Consider the following:

• First and foremost, it's important to remember that the Wiz just came off an overtime game the night before and the Bobcats were trying set a franchise record for the longest winning streak in their history.  It's still a loss, but a "BOMG!! WE LOST TO THE BOBCATZ, WE'RE GONNA MISS THE PLAYOFFS!!11!!eleven" response is entirely too short-sighted.
  
• The Heat are 18.5 games out of sixth place.
  
• Gilbert and Caron (remember those guys?) should be back soon.  Gilbert's said he hopes to be back for the start of the Western swing, which starts on the 25th.  He also said that he thinks Caron will be back before him so it's entirely conceivable that we could be at full strength in just over 2 weeks.
• Before we go on that swing out west, the Wizards have a favorable schedule.  Only 2 of the 7 games are on the road (Orlando and Miami) and the home schedule isn't exactly devastating (Bucks, Cavs, Clippers, Hawks, Pistons).  Even without 2 of the big 3, a 4-3 record wouldn't be that inconceivable for this two week stretch.
• The Sixers' schedule for the next seven games looks like this: Boston, @Detroit, @Chicago, San Antonio, Denver, @Orlando, New Jersey.  Do you think the Sixers are going to pass us in the next two weeks with that schedule?