Philadelphia 76ers

BasketballPhiladelphia 76ers -- Waived G Lloyd Daniels.CollegesWest Virginia -- Suspended C Leon Agnew from the basketball team indefinitely for unidentified reasons.

Upon their arrival on Thursday the Washington Wizards held a team dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. The team-building exercise was intended to break up the monotony and division that naturally comes with being on a losing team. "When you do things like that, go out to eat, do different things together, it builds a bond, and a relationship to make you want to play with each other on the court, and play hard for each other," Rashard Lewis said a day later. Whatever happened over the course of eating prime cuts of beef was lost the moment the Wizards set foot on the floor Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, as they suffered perhaps their most embarrassing defeat of the season, 120-89, at Wells Fargo Center.

BASKETBALL National Basketball Association * Philadelphia 76Ers -- Signed Greg Grant, guard. Waived Tharon Mayes, guard.Continental Basketball Association * Rockford Lightning -- Named Mauro Panaggio coach. Activated Dan Godfread, center. Signed Tony Martin, center. Waived Corey Beasley, forward.* Global Basketball Association * Raleigh Bullfrogs -- Signed Chuck Nevitt, center.

Two Philadelphia sports teams returned home last week. Despite wondrous performances by its nationally renowned star, the first split two games before tepid crowds. The second arrived in glory with the best record in its league and played before another guaranteed full house. And that's about how it has gone all season for the 76ers and Flyers in Baltimore's sports-crazed neighbor to the north. The Sixers boast one of the biggest national stars in Allen Iverson, but have struggled to break .500 and attract fans.

Baseball Colorado Rockies -- Reached agreement on a one-year contract with P David Nied, the last remaining unsigned player on their 40-man roster.BasketballPhiladelphia 76ers -- Fired coach Doug Moe. Announced that assistant coach Fred Carter (Mount St. Mary's, former Baltimore Bullet) will assume head coaching duties for the remainder of the season.CollegesMississippi -- Dismissed F Germaine Kohn from the football team for disciplinary reasons.Rocky Mountain -- Announced it will not renew the contract of women's basketball coach Emily Bauer.

Opponent: Philadelphia 76ersSite: USAir Arena, LandoverTime: 1 p.m.Radio: WWLG (1360 AM), WTEM (570 AM)Outlook: This season finale matches the two worst teams in Eastern Conference. C Shawn Bradley (9.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg) has had double doubles in 12 of his last 15 games, and G Dana Barros (20.6) is a candidate for the league's Most Improved Player award. For the Bullets, F Chris Webber sprained his ankle against New Jersey on Friday and may not play. Washington has won once in four meetings against Philadelphia this season.

Maryland alumnus Tony Massenburg is unhappy with the trade Thursday that sent him and former Villanova star Eddie Pinckney from the Toronto Raptors to the Philadelphia 76ers."

PHILADELPHIA - At some point during tonight's fifth game of the NBA Finals, the Lawrence O'Brien Trophy, presented each year to the league champions, will be brought into the First Union Center in anticipation of the Los Angeles Lakers claiming ownership of it for a second straight year. The burning question left is whether the Philadelphia 76ers, who have made their way through this year's playoffs on moxie and desire, have enough left physically and emotionally to keep the more talented and fresher Lakers from taking possession of the trophy on Philadelphia's floor.

If you watch Milwaukee Bucks guard Ray Allen glide across the court, firing jumpers with the precision of a skilled marksman, and you get the impression that it looks easy, you're not the only one. Allen's game looks easy even to Allen, particularly when he watches game tape, proving you can't believe everything you see on a screen. "When I watch film, I think I look like I'm running down the floor effortlessly," Allen said. "A lot of times, I'll think I was running fast or coming off a screen so fast, but when I watch the film, it looks so effortless.

PHILADELPHIA - He is, depending on the point of view, one of the most misunderstood players ever to lace up a pair of sneakers or simply misanthropic, a symbol for all that is wrong with the National Basketball Association. He is, depending on the hour of the day, the kind of supernova who will lead the Philadelphia 76ers back to their glorious past or just too selfish and irresponsible to be part of a championship team. Revered and reviled, Allen Iverson has won grudging respect from the critics who followed him here from Georgetown four years ago and grew in great numbers as he showed little reverence for the league's stars or its history.

PHILADELPHIA -- They finished the regular season tied for the best record in the Eastern Conference, yet they were viewed as underachievers. That's because more was expected of an Indiana Pacers team that extended the Chicago Bulls to seven games in last year's Eastern Conference finals.Well, the Pacers last night moved one step closer to reaching the conference finals for the second year in the row with a 97-86 win over the Philadelphia 76ers before a sellout crowd at the First Union Center.

For an NBA draft that was considered drab, there was quite a bit of drama leading to last night's gathering at the Charlotte Coliseum: Would Scottie Pippen be traded to the Boston Celtics, thus ending the Chicago Bulls dynasty? Would the New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia 76ers pull the trigger on a rumored eight-player deal?By the end of the first round, there were few surprises and no announced megadeals. But the round did result in a thrill for a local star, Keith Booth. The former Dunbar and Maryland star was selected in the final pick of the first round by the world champion Bulls.

Opponent: Philadelphia 76ersSite: USAir Arena, LandoverTime: 3 p.m. TV/Radio: Chs. 11, 4/WWRC (980 AM)Outlook: This is the second meeting in six days between the teams. The Bullets won in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The Sixers (15-44) have dropped three straight games are are next-to-last in the Atlantic Division. The Bullets' three-game winning streak ended in Friday's overtime loss to Miami, and they lost an opportunity to gain ground on Orlando and Indiana -- both of whom lost Friday.Pub Date: 3/09/97