(Associated Press)

At one point in the second quarter, when Kobe Bryant dribbled right past one defender, dribbled left past another and found Chris Duhon in the corner for an open 3-pointer, Doug Collins lost it.

The 76ers' coach had seen enough. Collins jumped from his seat on the bench Sunday and began shouting ... just in time for the Sixers to take a double-digit deficit into the locker rooms at halftime. Two quarters later, the Sixers had lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 111-98.

Collins thinks poor communication -- on offense and defense -- is the reason for the Sixers' three-game losing streak.

“Talking. Guys not talking," Collins said. "I talked to them this morning at shootaround. Until we want to embrace that and talk, we're going to be on roller skates. Whether it be speed, whether it be (getting to) the right spot, whether it be getting back, whatever. Until we start communicating on the floor together – we've got seven new guys. We've got to start to get to know one another. It's interesting – the Lakers were doing to us on the 3-point line what we had planned on doing, the running and jumping that we had worked on. But you've got to trust one another."

The Lakers (11-14) dominated the game at the 3-point line, where they knocked down 14 shots. In short, the Sixers (12-12) made the Lakers look like the Lakers, the team everybody had expected to outrun everybody else to an NBA title.

Evan Turner offered this as a solution to the Sixers' inability to speak to one another.

“We've got to get better at it – maybe communicating louder," Turner said.

In case you think the Sixers have been inept of late offensively from the 3-point line, they've been even worse defending from there. They've shot 33-for-122 (.270) from beyond the arc this month. Defensively, they've allowed teams to shoot 31-for-86 (.360) from there. (More on that Monday.)

So maybe communicating isn't the only issue with the Sixers.

(Associated Press)

The Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant needs 13 points Wednesday night to become the fifth player in NBA history to eclipse the 30,000-point mark.

Sixers coach Doug Collins, who has coached one of those five, knows it takes a special talent to reach that milestone. Collins picked up a unique perspective on that mark when he coached Michael Jordan, both in Chicago and Washington.

“You have to have incredible talent and you have to have – this is what I always talk about (with) greatness: greatness answers the bell every night. I saw it with Michael Jordan," Collins said following the Sixers' practice at PCOM. "Michael Jordan was not allowed to come and have a so-so game. He not only had to throw up a huge game, but he had to do something spectacular that people were talking about going home. There’s a mindset you have. Kobe wants to play all 82 games, he never wants to miss. That’s a badge of courage for him. It was always for Michael. I think when Michael was 40, on my team, he was the only person that played all 82 games. That’s important to be there every night for your team."

Collins also spoke of the personal level on which he knows Bryant, who was born the same year as Collins' daughter Kelly. Collins was a teammate of Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, Kobe's father, at the time of their childrens' births, so "I've watched Kobe grow." 

Collins said there's something to be appreciated in the work ethic of players like Bryant and Jordan, especially in how Jordan scored his 30,000th point, how he elevated his play after ending an 866-game streak of scoring in double figures.

(Associated Press)

"He and Michael remind me so much of each other," Collins said. "...I had Michael with Washington (in 2001-02) and he came off that eight-point game in Indiana (actually a career-low six) that broke that long, long streak. He came back his next night and had 51 against Jersey, then I think he had 45 against Charlotte, and then we played Chicago and – double-check – but I think he got his 30,000th point, I think Ron Artest fouled him, and he hit two free throws to get his 30,000th point when I was coaching him. I remember Ron Artest standing in front of our bench and punching the scorething or whatever and saying he did not want Michael to get his 30,000th point against him or whatever."

(Associated Press)

The 76ers, back in August, put the faith of their 2012-13 season in the big hands of Andrew Bynum.

Now the season's upon us...and the Sixers.

Wednesday night, when they open their most-anticipated campaign in more than a decade, the Sixers will be without Bynum against the Denver Nuggets at Wells Fargo Center. And who knows just how long they'll have to bide their time without the big man in the middle.

The Sixers are hoping it's not long. Nonetheless, the Bynum-less Sixers are still an improvement upon last season's club. Though having the 7-footer in the lineup wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. (Read more about that here.)

Without Bynum, the Sixers fall into a clutter in the Eastern Conference. Clearly, the Los Angeles Lakers -- the team that traded Bynum to Philly -- are the favorites to win it all. With Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, the Lakers don't stand to have much competition in the NBA. (Read a preview of the NBA season here.)

For more on the Sixers' season, check out my breakdown of the five biggest questions surrounding them -- including when Bynum will be back and if his knees will ever be healthy enough.