Cheeks remains confident

Maurice Cheeks isn’t producing many wins this season as the 76ers’ coach, yet he knows Philadelphia has as good a chance as anybody in the struggling Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.

The 76ers, still adjusting to life without Allen Iverson, sit in last place in the division, but they were only 5 1/2 games back of leader Toronto through Thursday.

“We still have a chance,” Cheeks said with a chuckle. “We were talking about that the other day that we have seven wins and the leader of our division [had] 12 wins. If we get one here or two there, we’re right there. It seems kind of funny, but we still exist. If we come out on top of that division, I wouldn’t care if it’s the worst division ever. There are a lot of sub-.500 teams.

“You never know.”

Cheeks is trying to be patient with his team as the Sixers as Andre Miller, acquired in the Iverson trade, adjusts to a new system and new teammates.

“He’s a guy who we depend on so much now with the ball in his hands 60 or 70 times,” Cheeks said. “We’ve got to get him more comfortable being that guy we have to go to -- especially late in the game. He has the potential to fill up the stat sheet.”