NBA owners and players have reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement that would have teams playing a 66-game season starting on Christmas. Joel Maxcy, an associate professor of sport and recreation management at Temple, said the new ownership group of the Philadelphia 76ers has taken some positive steps during their early tenure, including cutting some individual ticket prices by at least 50 percent. The sale of the Sixers during the lockout, Maxcy said, may help the new owners if fans harbor any resentment over lost games. "If there is any kind of hangover," he said, "[the new 76ers owners] can't really be blamed."