Nikola Vucevic

With the No. 16 pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, the 76ers selected USC center Nikola Vucevic. This is the guy the Sixers had targeted all along as they feel he will be a strong pro and be able to contribute immediately in the frontcourt. Vucevic averaged 17.1 points and 10.3 rebounds a game last season with the Trojans. The Sixers also hold the No. 50 pick, which is a second-round selection. - Kate Fagan

ORLANDO - One of the main reasons for the 76ers' early-season success was the matchup problems they posed for other teams. But times have been rough of late, and winning games hasn't been the easy task it used to be. So, to have a better shot at winning, coach Doug Collins now is matching his team against the opponent. At least he was for Monday's game against the Orlando Magic. Shorthanded because of injuries to starting center Dwight Howard (back) and his backup, Glen Davis (sprained knee)

The 76ers, about to play three games in a row for the first time since a lockout shortened the 1999 season to 50 games, will most likely have center Spencer Hawes with them for the stretch, according to the team. Perhaps the biggest surprise on the surprising Sixers roster, Hawes left the team's 97-62 Saturday win over the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter when he experienced a mid-back strain. Hawes underwent treatment shortly after the game and said he would do the same again on Sunday.

THE 76ERS SAID after the season was over that they were looking to get bigger and more athletic in the middle, whether it be via draft, trade or free agency. They might have addressed that area a little bit when they got 6-11 Arnett Moultrie, of Mississippi State, in a draft-day trade with Miami last week, but Wednesday, they decided to go back to a comfort zone. According to sources, the team has agreed to a 2-year contract to keep last season's starting center, Spencer Hawes.

WELL, I GUESS what happened with the Flyers yesterday pretty much confirms the impending sale of the 76ers. Ed Snider would not have rained golf-ball-sized hail on the Sixers' draft night by trading captain Mike Richards and Jeff Carter if Comcast was going to retain more than a minimal stake in the city's NBA franchise. Considering the magnitude of the Flyers' moves, it might have helped the Sixers gain a little more traction today had they done something a little more innovative last night.

76ers Notes NEW ORLEANS - Although Elton Brand hasn't been lighting it up so far this season, 76ers coach Doug Collins is not too concerned with the numbers that Brand is putting up right now. "He'll come around. I'm not worried about Elton," Collins said of Brand, averaging 8.3 points and 7.5 rebounds. "With the older guys it takes a little bit longer for their legs to round into shape. So we're hoping to get some of our bigger guys who have some age on them a few miles; hopefully their legs will start bouncing back as we play some more of these games.

The 76ers begin a three-game road trip on Saturday in Cleveland but will miss seeing one of the league's bright young players. Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft out of Duke, won't play on Saturday due to a concussion. Cavaliers coach Byron Scott told reporters that Irving's next chance to play will be Wednesday against the visiting Indiana Pacers. Saturday will be the third consecutive game Irving will miss. A graduate of St. Patrick's High in Elizabeth, N.J., Irving suffered the injury when he was kneed in the head during Tuesday's 107-91 loss at Miami.

NEW YORK - For the first few weeks of the season, it has been the 76ers' catching opponents minus one of their key players. Against Sacramento on Tuesday, the Kings were without leading scorer Marcus Thornton. When the Sixers played Golden State on New Year's Eve, the Warriors were missing top scorer Monte Ellis. Indiana was without Danny Granger, its leading scorer, and there have been other notable absentees along the way. On Wednesday, in their first game against the New York Knicks, the Sixers found out what it's like to be without a key player.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Nikola Vucevic is going through a routine part of any rookie's season in the NBA. He appears to be lost on the offensive end, a step (or two) slow on the defensive side, and is playing with all the aggressiveness of a pillow. No matter how much 76ers coach Doug Collins rides his rookie center, and he has done so frequently lately, he understands what Vucevic is going through. Every player has a certain amount of struggle time during his first season. Including the Sixers' 105-80 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night, he has scored just 17 points in his last six games, making just six of his last 26 shots.

There is no doubt that the theme of this season for the 76ers is "What Could Have Been. " In August, after Andrew Bynum was acquired in the now infamous four-team trade that plucked Andre Iguodala, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and a protected first-round pick from the team, the speculation was that the Sixers could contend for the Eastern Conference title. The talk wasn't so much of exactly how many wins they could pile up with a roster that included a bunch of sharpshooters on the perimeter to benefit from the double-teams Bynum would command, but, rather, how many more than 50 wins would they get. Remember those days?

'BIZARRE. " That is a word that former general manager and current team consultant Rod Thorn used to describe this 76ers season before Wednesday's game against the Miami Heat. And it's probably not strong enough, especially when you consider the two players the Sixers obtained in a trade in which they dealt Andre Iguodala, Nikola Vucevic and Maurice Harkless, along with a lottery-protected first-round pick, have been shelved for all or most of the season. Andrew Bynum wasn't spotted at the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday and Jason Richrdson had season-ending knee surgery on Feb. 19. "No one anticipated that this would happen, that so far [Bynum]

THE CELTICS relied on their veterans to help them win the matchup of the NBA's two hottest teams. Paul Pierce had 27 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists and the Celtics extended their winning streak to seven games with a 118-114 triple-overtime victory over the visiting Nuggets on Sunday. Boston's win also ended Denver's winning streak at nine games. Pierce made a tying three-pointer in the second OT to make it 107-107 and extend the game. "I mean, that's what great players do. I would love to tell you I had something to do with it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

I DON'T know how to be critical of the 76ers over this situation without being a hypocrite. I was 100 percent in favor of the trade that brought in All-Star center Andrew Bynum from the Los Angeles Lakers. I thought Bynum was a franchise player. With the exception of Jrue Holiday, I would have included any combination of players on the Sixers' roster to acquire Bynum - even second-year center Nikola Vucevic. I obviously would not have taken part in the four-team trade had I known Bynum and his achy knees would yet to play a game for the Sixers, but that's the only reason.

Shortly after the trade that brought Andrew Bynum to the 76ers was consummated, Nikola Vucevic received a phone call that roused him from sleep. It was Sixers coach Doug Collins, Vucevic said. "We talked and had a good conversation. He wished me good luck and told me that he wished he could coach me. " There were no hard feelings on his part, recounted Vucevic, reached by phone earlier this month. The 7-foot Montenegrin center, drafted by the Sixers with the 16th overall pick in 2011, understood completely that Collins wanted to play players he felt he could trust late in the season and in the playoffs.

THE ATLANTA Hawks took a fast-paced approach to ending their worst slump of the season: Run, run and then run some more. Jeff Teague had a career-high 28 points and 11 assists, Zaza Pachulia finished two assists shy of a triple-double and the short-handed Hawks beat visiting Brooklyn, 109-95, on Wednesday night to stop the Nets' seven-game winning streak. The Hawks, who had lost six of seven, played without leading scorer Josh Smith. The forward was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount for "conduct detrimental to the team" following an incident in practice Tuesday.

ORLANDO — His first basket as a professional basketball player was pretty easy, as Maurice Harkless took a pass in the open court and easily deposited a dunk late in the first half of the 76ers' opening game in the Air Tran Orlando Pro Summer League against the Indiana Pacers. It's about the only thing that came easy for Harkless recently. The roster the organization has accumulated met in Orlando on July 5 and, through Sunday, went through six workouts at the University of Central Florida.

THE 76ERS SAID after the season was over that they were looking to get bigger and more athletic in the middle, whether it be via draft, trade or free agency. They might have addressed that area a little bit when they got 6-11 Arnett Moultrie, of Mississippi State, in a draft-day trade with Miami last week, but Wednesday, they decided to go back to a comfort zone. According to sources, the team has agreed to a 2-year contract to keep last season's starting center, Spencer Hawes.

THE PHONES have been buzzing since free agency started at midnight on Saturday, and 76ers president Rod Thorn has been burning his ear talking and listening to people around the NBA. "We've been busy looking at what's available, what might be out there to help us," said Thorn, whose team selected swingman Maurice Harkless and acquired power forward/center Arnett Moultrie in the first round in Thursday's NBA draft. "There is no doubt that we have a big need for a shooter, and we'll be looking for that, but who knows what could happen?

BOSTON - It's that time of the year when nearly every player lucky enough to still be playing is battling some sort of ache or pain. It's certainly no different for the 76ers. In Game 1 against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, forward Thaddeus Young was kneed in the shin by Celtics forward Ryan Hollins. The kneeing caused Young to also twist his right ankle. The ankle, he said, is feeling just fine, but the shin is giving him a little bit of a problem. Before Game 2 on Monday, Young was getting treatment and being fitted for a special pad to absorb any contact.