Royal Ivey

NEW YORK - Doug Collins often has bemoaned the presence of photographers along the baseline, and on Sunday, when he lost shooting guard Jason Richardson to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter against the New York Knicks, the 76ers coach had yet another reason to complain. However, it was Richardson, not Collins, who did the talking. "They really don't belong down there - you see what happens," said Richardson, who suffered the sprain when he stepped on a cameraman's foot at Madison Square Garden.

MIAMI - The 76ers, in search of an effective rotation all season, went with Charles Jenkins beside Jrue Holiday in the starting lineup on Friday. It marked Jenkins' first start since the Sixers acquired the 6-foot-3 guard from Golden State last month, along with cash considerations, in exchange for a protected, future second-round pick. Jenkins, who had appeared in just two games before Friday, said that it is his job to be ready when coach Doug Collins called on him, even if he happened to be getting the call against the defending champions.

THE MIAMI HEAT is the talk of the NBA, on a 15-game winning streak that has separated them from everyone in the Eastern Conference. But the 16-game stretch that the Boston Celtics have put together has to be just as impressive, maybe even more so. That's because Boston has done its damage in those games without Rajon Rondo, who is among the few elite point guards in the NBA. Credit it to coaching, or to veteran leadership or just the know-how of...

Sometimes, it's better to bolster the merits of something by pointing out what is absent rather than by pointing to what is obvious. Such is the case when making the pitch for 76ers point guard Jrue Holiday to earn his first berth on the Eastern Conference all-star team as a reserve selected by the coaches in the coming days. That Holiday and Boston's Rajon Rondo - the deserved East starter at point - are the only two point guards with at least 10 double-doubles and one triple-double speaks for itself.

The 76ers' Opening Night starting small forward will be . . . Thaddeus Young. Maurice Cheeks waited until yesterday to say that publicly, not because Young hadn't earned the job, but because the coach wanted to see him on the practice floor, to be certain the back strain he suffered Friday was no longer an issue. Cheeks' contingency plan tonight would have been to use Kareem Rush in Young's spot. He gave Rush some extra time with the other starters during the workouts at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Could it be? A three-game winning streak? Yes, it is. Finally, halfway through the season, the 76ers are streaking. Last night at New Orleans Arena, the Sixers beat the New Orleans Hornets, 101-94. In their last three games, the Sixers have defeated the New Jersey Nets, the Chicago Bulls, and, now, the Hornets. The Sixers improved to 18-31, while the Hornets, losers of three in a row without all-star point guard Chris Paul, dropped to 26-24. Tonight, the Sixers play at the Houston Rockets.

For the second consecutive game, the 76ers played without leading scorer Elton Brand. For the second consecutive game, the Sixers faced a solid opponent. Last night, it was the New Jersey Nets. Although they rallied to win that first Brand-less game - beating the Detroit Pistons on Friday night - the Sixers couldn't find the same fourth-quarter burst, wilting down the stretch in a 95-84 loss at the Wachovia Center. "If you want to be good in this league, you've got to play [back-to-back]

Willie Green might have been on the second team - the one opposite Elton Brand - for Friday night's scrimmage, but he played as if not quite ready to slide to the end of the 76ers' bench. Every made bucket - and there were plenty, for 29 points in all - served as a reminder that Green, who started all 74 games last season, is still the team's reigning shooting guard. Yesterday, coach Maurice Cheeks closed training camp at Penn State a day early. Cheeks called camp "taxing" and said he wanted to give his players a day off. The Sixers will practice again tomorrow at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Jrue Holiday is wearing the first team's colors. It's just that he's a substitute on that team, which puts him behind the second-team guys, too - behind Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala, Willie Green, Royal Ivey, and Rodney Carney. Although Holiday, a 6-foot-4 point guard, is the 76ers' reigning first-round draft pick, he has found himself standing more than playing. During yesterday's session at St. Joseph's University, on the Sixers' second day of training camp, the team spent the final 75 minutes scrimmaging.

Outside the Palace of Auburn Hills, with snow coating cars, it looked like midwinter. But inside, the 76ers and the Detroit Pistons, battling for postseason position, looked much closer to spring. Which they are. Last night, either the Pistons were the more desperate team or they received a boost from Allen Iverson's return. Maybe it was a little bit of both: They ended a 101-97 win over the Sixers with an 18-8 run. The last of those 18 points, and the last points of the game, came on a short, baseline jumper from Pistons guard Richard Hamilton with 14 seconds remaining, good for a two-possession Detroit lead.