Lavoy Allen

NEW ORLEANS -  With an offense that bordering on anemic, 76ers coach Doug Collins wanted to make scoring a little bit easier for his team. The instruction was to push the ball at every instance - after misses, makes, timeouts, injuries. Well, you get the picture. The most opportune time to get the ball down the floor, of course, is after a defensive stop. The Sixers did that very well early in the game against the New Orleans Hornets Wednesday, limiting them to one make in their first nine attempts.

ONLY TWO GAMES into the season and coach Doug Collins was forced to tinker with his starting lineup for Game 3 as shooting guard Jason Richardson was out after spraining his left ankle against the New York Knicks on Sunday. Dorell Wright took Richardson's spot Monday against the Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center. Collins also decided to start Kwame Brown at center, replacing Lavoy Allen. The move wasn't so much to slight Allen as it was to have a spark coming off the bench. Collins said before the season he wanted to play Spencer Hawes with Allen or another big body.

While the 76ers wait for ailing center Andrew Bynum's knees to be free of pain, it looks as if fans of the team will be in agony. After beating the Sixers easily on Sunday, the New York Knicks beat them again - worse, and seemingly with less effort - by 110-88 Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. For the second game in a row, the Knicks shot the ball better from the field, making 46.4 percent of their shots from the field compared to the Sixers, who made 33.7 percent. But Sixers coach Doug Collins said that, for the moment at least, this is as much about the Knicks' being a very good team as it is about the Sixers' trying to find their way. "We have run into a team the last couple of games that is probably playing as well as anybody in the NBA," Collins said.

While the 76ers wait for ailing center Andrew Bynum's knees to be free of pain, it looks as if fans of the team will be in agony. After beating the Sixers easily on Sunday, the New York Knicks beat them again - worse, and seemingly with less effort - by 110-88 Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. For the second game in a row, the Knicks shot the ball better from the field, making 46.4 percent of their shots from the field compared to the Sixers, who made 33.7 percent. But Sixers coach Doug Collins said that, for the moment at least, this is as much about the Knicks' being a very good team as it is about the Sixers' trying to find their way. "We have run into a team the last couple of games that is probably playing as well as anybody in the NBA," Collins said.

As a storm bears down on the region, the 76ers hope to continue their preparations Monday and Tuesday for the season opener, scheduled for Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center. "As long as we can get to practice [Monday], and the power doesn't go out, we have some contingencies in place with some hotel rooms around the practice facility," coach Doug Collins said. "We don't want our guys driving around in it, so if we can get them here tomorrow and there is power, we should be OK. " The Sixers continue to prepare as if they will begin the season without the services of center Andrew Bynum.

Lavoy Allen entered his rookie season with the 76ers without the highest of profiles. He had starred at Pennsbury High and Temple, but Allen, the 50th overall selection in the 2011 NBA draft, probably exceeded the expectations of Sixers fans simply by making the team. Even better, Allen contributed as a rookie and became a vital frontcourt performer in the postseason for the Sixers. This season, his profile, and likely his playing time, will rise. Even with the addition of Andrew Bynum, Allen was expected to see his share of time at power forward and possibly center.

Coach Doug Collins confirmed after 76ers practice Thursday that the starting lineup for Wednesday's season opener likely will have Lavoy Allen at center and Thaddeus Young at power forward. Allen and Young, key reserves last season, scrimmaged with a group that included Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, and Jason Richardson. At the beginning of training camp, Collins had planned to start Andrew Bynum at center and Spencer Hawes at power forward. However, because of knee pain, it is unlikely Bynum will appear in Wednesday's starting lineup.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Starting Wednesday it will be Training Camp, Part 2, for the 76ers. Part 1 included the team holding about 10 practices, collectively finding their legs, familiarizing themselves with one another and somewhat getting ready for the preseason. That preseason, which heaved seven games in 12 days onto the team, ended Monday at the Carrier Dome with a 98-90 win over the New York Knicks and a 6-1 record. Now comes the favorite part of coaching for Doug Collins - getting in the gym with his team.

In the two years that Doug Collins has coached the 76ers, rarely has he implored a player to be more aggressive at the offensive end. He did it a few times last season with Jrue Holiday, but by and large Collins wants his players selfless. This is not, however, the case with Lavoy Allen. The 6-foot-9 power forward missed two days of training camp last week tending to his girlfriend, who delivered their son, Kai, on Thursday. Shortly after Allen came back and got a good scrimmage under his belt last week, Collins assessed his second-year player.

Of all the working parts that must come together if the 76ers are going to realize their potential, transitioning Spencer Hawes from center to power forward - a position he's never played - is pretty low on the list. One week after the Sixers re-signed Hawes to a two-year, $13 million deal, they then signed 6-foot-11, 270-pound Kwame Brown. Sixers coach Doug Collins anointed Brown the starter and immediately said Hawes would start at power forward. The blockbuster trade for center Andrew Bynum partially scuttled those plans, relegating Brown to the bench but not altering the plans for Hawes, who welcomes the opportunity to play power forward alongside the massive, 285-pound Bynum "The way I play, alongside a bigger body guy it could be that I'm better suited there," Hawes said.