PHILADELPHIA -- For the Washington Bullets, the game that marked the midway point of their schedule was an opportunity to get out of last place in the Atlantic Division.
The opponent was the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that started the night four percentage points ahead of the Bullets and had lost the past four games in its five-game losing streak in heartbreaking fashion.
In the end, it was the Bullets who were heartbroken -- and still in last place -- as they managed just 13 points in the fourth quarter in last night's 98-89 loss to the Sixers before 9,204 at the CoreStates Spectrum.
For the second straight game, the Bullets were done in by poor shooting, managing just 38.9 percent from the field. That's the reason why they reached the halfway point of the season with an 11-30 record, their second-worst record at midseason in team history (the 1966-67 Baltimore Bullets were 8-33).
"We didn't play well enough to win, so we didn't win," said Bullets guard Scott Skiles, who had 17 points and tied his season high in assists with 13. "Our shots didn't fall, and we didn't execute the way we should have."
Sixers guard Dana Barros, after a quiet three quarters, knew the meaning of execution. The Philadelphia point guard, who on Tuesday was named to the All-Star team, single-handedly outscored the Bullets in the fourth quarter, 16-13. Barros finished the game with 24 points.
"I was a little timid in the beginning," Barros said. "I got to sit down, get my legs together and contribute."
Philadelphia needed the contribution. The Sixers appeared to be a jinxed team entering the game, losing their past four games -- all of which they led going into the final minute -- by a total of 10 points.
The Sixers, losers of 15 of their past 17 games, never thought that last night's game would slip away.
"I don't think we ever let it get to that point," Barros said. "We were always able to maintain a six- to eight-point lead." The Sixers did enter the final quarter of last night's game trailing, 76-73. But the Sixers opened the quarter scoring the first seven points, five by Barros.
"We pretty much controlled the game until the fourth," said the Bullets' Calbert Cheaney, who scored 17 points. "In the fourth, we just couldn't get the shots to fall down."
The Bullets' box score looks balanced: All five starters scored in double figures, with each of the five scoring 13 or more points. But Cheaney (seven of 13 from the field) and Gheorghe Muresan (15 points, six of 11 from the field) were the only starters to shoot better than 50 percent.
Muresan scored 10 points in the first quarter, abusing Sharone Wright in the low post. But he was quiet the rest of the game, though he did grab a game-high 11 rebounds.
"He got his fourth foul [early in the fourth quarter] and I was a little slow to put him back in," Bullets coach Jim Lynam said. "We were more successful getting him the ball in the first half than the second half, for whatever reasons."
It seemed like Muresan was slowed when Sixers center Shawn Bradley, who at 7 feet 6 is an inch shorter than Muresan, checked into the game. Bradley has had a difficult time staying in games, fouling out a league-high 15 times.
But he managed to play 31 minutes last night, scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking five of Philadelphia's 10 shots -- all while playing on a sprained right knee that had him questionable for last night's game.
For Bullets forward Juwan Howard, it was one of those rare off-nights. Howard scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but he hit just six of 19 shots.
"It was a tough shooting night for everyone," Howard said. "I had some shots rattle in and out -- shots I normally make."
NOTE: Tickets are still available for tomorrow's game against the Miami Heat, which will feature the return of Chris Webber.