Andre Iguodala

OK, I'M TIRED of all this talk and focus on the growth and development the Sixers have shown during these NBA playoffs. Blah, blah, blah. Yada, yada, yada. Booooooring. Enough, we're harping on something that was a given. They were things that were going to happen by osmosis they moment Andre Iguodala sank those two free throws in Game 6 against the Chicago Bulls to send the Sixers to the second round of the playoffs. The first two games against the Boston Celtics were automatically learning experiences because, except for veteran Elton Brand, no key member of the rotation had ever been out of the first round.

Andre Iguodala is a first-time all-star, a selection in which winning trumped individual scoring statistics. The Sixers are 18-8 and entered Thursday as the No. 3 team in the Eastern Conference. Iguodala, 28, was among the seven Eastern Conference reserves named Thursday night. The NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 26 in Orlando. Last week, the starters - selected by the fans - were announced. The Eastern Conference head coaches picked the reserves. The coaches had to select two guards, two forwards, a center, and two wild cards; they could not vote for their own players.

Andre Iguodala returned to the court for the first time in more than two weeks, but the key question is whether the 76ers swingman will be able to stay. Iguodala said he went through about half of Monday's practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, including a 12-minute full-court session. It was his first action since playing 40 minutes in a 95-89 win at Denver on Dec. 26. In that game, Iguodala had nine points, eight rebounds and five assists. Iguodala has been sidelined with Achilles tendinitis for 12 games this season - or twice as many as he missed in his first six seasons in the league.

With the keystone - Elton Brand - locked in as the 76ers' power forward for the next five years, attention has turned to the futures of Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams, both restricted free agents and both integral pieces of last season's playoff team. On Sunday, Brand said he had been assured by the team's management that the Sixers would match any offer made to Iguodala, a guard-forward who last season averaged 19.9 points per game. Yesterday, Williams' agent, Merle Scott, said that although a number of teams have shown interest in his client, none has made a formal offer, and both parties - Williams and the Sixers - intend to make a deal that keeps the guard in Philadelphia.

For too much of last night's 91-87 victory by the 76ers at the Wachovia Center, the Memphis Grizzlies hung around like a bad house guest: unwelcomed and oblivious. A four-quarter tussle was not what the 76ers (27-24) had planned for their final game before the all-star break, their last contest in a seven-game homestand. The Sixers wanted to literally run Memphis from the court. But there were the Grizzlies (15-37), with their second-leading scorer, Rudy Gay, in street clothes, ahead by three points with only a handful of possessions left.

About one hour and 15 minutes before officially starting his NBA career last night, Andre Iguodala sat by his locker munching grapes, apparently oblivious to the enormity of the event. The frazzled nerves that are supposed to accompany rookies before their first NBA game weren't apparent. The 76ers' first-round draft choice, talked calmly before the game, insisting he was ready. Then he went out and backed up that assertion. Iguodala enjoyed a scintillating first quarter during an improbable 98-95 win over the Boston Celtics at the FleetCenter.

A riddle from the road: Who is the only member of the 76ers to start every one of the team's 27 games this season? Hint: His initials are A.I. Gotcha. It's not Allen Iverson. It's Andre Iguodala, the 20-year-old rookie who, instead of taking on a third year of college basketball at Arizona, is getting a crash course in the NBA while nightly taking on the opponent's best player at the defensive end. Iguodala, who ranks second on the team to Iverson in minutes played, has found himself matched up against some of the NBA's best, including Boston's Paul Pierce, Houston's Tracy McGrady, Seattle's Ray Allen, Orlando's Grant Hill and Denver's Carmelo Anthony.

The Sixers have made a flurry of moves - three free-agent signings in three weeks - but yesterday they finally pulled the trigger on one of their own, agreeing with restricted free-agent guard Lou Williams on a five-year deal worth $25 million, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Ed Stefanski, 76ers general manager, had no comment, and Williams' agent, Merle Scott, did not return calls. The 76ers drafted Williams out of South Gwinnett High School in Snellville, Ga., with the 45th overall pick of the 2005 draft.

The 76ers have reached an agreement with Kareem Rush, a source close to the free-agent guard confirmed yesterday. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard is in Philadelphia and will sign with the Sixers today, the source said. Specific terms of the deal were not revealed, but one source said it was a minimum-level contract, which, for a player like Rush, who is credited with six years of service in the NBA, would be $998,398. Sixers officials would not comment on Rush. Rush will become the 10th player under contract for this season.

The inconsistent way the 76ers have defended and rebounded has been the big news through the first quarter of this NBA season, while the offense has been carried largely on the backs of Allen Iverson and Chris Webber. But if the Sixers have discovered anything during their three-game winning streak, it's that they probably have an easier time at the offensive end when Kyle Korver and Andre Iguodala are more involved. Korver has averaged 21.3 points in the three games while shooting a staggering 75 percent from the field and 80 percent from three-point territory.

Hours before Wednesday's game, fans and players alike were caught up in whether the "little guy" was in the house. "Is AI here?" Elton Brand asked a reporter two hours before the game. Fans were standing from the time they entered the Wells Fargo Center to try for a glimpse of Allen Iverson after word leaked that the former Sixers superstar would be in attendance. And the place exploded when Iverson came out of the tunnel close to the Sixers bench and, wearing a Lou Williams jersey and a Sixers warm-up jacket, handed the game ball to referee Joey Crawford.

The 76ers might have chuckled at Kevin Garnett's comments about their fans, but they neither agreed with nor appreciated them. "We'll see the fans tomorrow," Elton Brand said after Tuesday's light practice. "We appreciate our fans. We know we have their support, and they've got our backs. I'm sure they're going to show him how fair-weather they are tomorrow. " After the Celtics' 101-85 victory in Game 5 Monday night in Boston, Garnett said Philadelphia fans weren't as loyal as Boston fans.

ELTON BRAND strode through the corridors of TD Garden dressed like a stockbroker, as amiable as a preacher. A security guard congratulated Brand on his exceptional effort in a losing cause. "Thanks," said Brand. "See you Saturday. " It was Monday. The Sixers had just lost Game 5. Brand was, in effect, assuring a Sixers win in Game 6 on Wednesday night. A return to Boston for a Game 7. Which meant that he would be a Sixer for one more game. Maybe more.

BOSTON - The 76ers appeared to gain an advantage even before tipoff for Monday's pivotal Game 5 against the Boston Celtics. Starting guard Avery Bradley was unavailable, nursing injuries to both shoulders. Twice so far in the series Bradley has had a shoulder pop out of its socket. His place in the starting lineup was taken by Ray Allen, who began the season at that spot but was replaced by Bradley midseason when Allen sprained an ankle. Coach Doc Rivers liked the defensive presence that Bradley brought and decided to leave him in the starting lineup, having Allen come off the bench to provide offensive spark.

BOSTON - It wasn't youth that played the biggest role in the 76ers' not putting the hammer down on the Boston Celtics and returning to Philly with a series lead. And it wasn't the wise old vets in the green-and-white just tapping into their playoff experience, either. What did the Sixers in, what allowed Boston to take a 101-85 victory and a lead of three games to two at the TD Garden Monday was simply bad and, at times, stupid basketball by the visitors. The youth excuse can be thrown out there.

IF THERE IS anything about this Eastern Conference semifinal series between the 76ers and Boston Celtics that makes sense, it is hiding itself better than Evan Turner's jump shot. They'll resume their head-scratching series on Monday at TD Garden, even at two games each. A few examples of the strangeness of the series: In separate games, Boston has jumped out to leads of 9-0 and 14-0, and lost. During their two wins, the Sixers have shot 39.2 percent from the floor, while they've made 42.3 percent in their two losses.

If there is anything about this Eastern Conference semifinal series between the 76ers and Boston Celtics that makes sense, it is hiding better than Evan Turner's jump shot. The teams will resume their head-scratching series Monday at TD Garden with the series tied at two games apiece. A few examples of the strangeness of the series: In separate games, Boston has jumped out to leads of 9-0 and 14-0, and lost. During their two wins, the Sixers have shot 39.2 percent from the floor, and they have made 42.3 percent in their two losses.

A 15-point deficit at the half could kill a team's confidence. So could the thought of falling behind three-games-to-one in a series. But no, Lou Williams said. Adversity made things easier. "Everything's off the table. When you're getting your butt kicked, you've just got to compete," he said after scoring 15 points in the Sixers' 92-83 win. "When you're down [by 18], the basket gets bigger because there's not really a lot of pressure on that next shot. Everybody just played like that.

The Boston Celtics came to Game 4 Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center in a foul mood. The pushed, they shoved, they scowled, they threw undetected elbows, cursed refs and opponents. And when they came out to start the second half, it looked like they wanted to steal the drumsticks out of the kids' hands performing on the court. They probably wished they would have kept that anger in the locker room, because the 76ers withstood that first-half beating, in which they trailed by as many as 15, and delivered a flurry of combinations and power punches over the final 24 minutes, somehow coming out with a 92-83 decision and tying the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2. Andre Iguodala scored five straight points late in the fourth quarter, surrounding a block by Thaddeus Young of a Rajon Rondo drive to the basket, to give the Sixers an 88-83 lead with 36.9 seconds to go and secure the improbable comeback.

Sharks smell blood and attack. In the NBA playoffs, teams attack injured players, whether they'll admit it or not. Boston's Paul Pierce has sprained ligaments in his left knee, an injury that prevents him from being able to move side-to-side with any quickness. On offense, he has to catch and shoot while his feet are planted. Any type of movement to get himself open is an adventure. On defense, if Pierce has to do anything but move forward or backward, he's done. His teammate Ray Allen is suffering from bone spurs in his foot.