(Associated Press)

76ers rookie Michael Carter-Williams is dealing with a swollen right knee, which made his triple-double Tuesday night against Orlando that much more surprising.

Carter-Williams said he knocked knees Sunday with a player in Detroit, and that it’s bothered him ever since. 

The knee injury did not prevent the point guard from playing 46 minutes, 32 seconds and posting the first triple-double of his career. He scored 27 points and added 12 rebounds and 10 assists, less than an hour after being named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month.

“It’s pretty painful. It’s real sore,” Carter-Williams said after the Sixers’ 126-125 win over the Magic. I was real sore out there. It started to stiffen up on me as the game went on. It’s my right knee. I bumped knees with someone in the previous game (Sunday at Detroit).”

“Michael has a swollen knee. It’s a legitimate injury,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “He did a hell of a job playing through that.”

The Sixers (7-12), who snapped a four-game losing streak, had the day off Wednesday. They next take the court Friday in Charlotte against the Bobcats.

(Associated Press)

It's the morning after Sixers coach Doug Collins went off on his guys, chiding them for a lack of effort in their “mind-numbing” loss to the Orlando Magic.

During the 12-minute press conference, Collins talked about heart. He talked about – maybe through a pair of revisionist historian's glasses – how he never got booed as a player. He talked about how he ran through his sneakers and gave it his all as a player. He talked about how three of the Sixers' starters, though he didn't name names, weren't sweaty as the game began, hoping to ease into their meeting with the NBA's second-worst team.

“I'm not a blamer. I'm not an excuse kind of guy. Nobody takes this harder than I do. Nobody,” Collins said. “I'm a guy who, when I have coached, I've always been able to find answers. And I have not been able to find the answers, and from my standpoint, that's very disappointing because I'm paid to do that.

“I want you to know in no way am I casting dispersions that this is someone else's fault. We're all in this together. But there can't be a game where you go out and don't put your heart and soul into the game. Can't do it. No reason for that. None.”

Collins is at wit's end.
Read more »

(Associated Press)

With 2:30 to go in the first quarter Sunday, Evan Turner didn't like a traveling call directed toward him. He said something – and it didn't really matter what it was – toward the official, and got a technical foul because of it.

Whoops.

A day later, Sixers coach Doug Collins called Turner's reaction “that little meltdown,” then lauded the emotional reaction of his third-year swingman in the Sixers' loss to the New York Knicks, a game that feature plenty of hot-blooded plays.

An excitable player with the tendency to get riled up, Turner admitted afterward that he was remorseful for getting T'd up. He said he shouldn't have let a silly call like traveling get the best of him.

Still, it wasn't enough to rile up Collins. Well, kind of.

“I was trying to get him off the floor. I was trying hard,” Collins said of Turner. “He got it and I said, 'Evan, I told you,' and he said, 'I got it now.' I said, 'Yeah, I know. Now.'

“The one thing about Evan, and I told him this, is I admire his competitive nature. Evan would take on the other team by himself if he could and I love that about him, but I don't want him to feel like he has to do that.”

The Sixers (22-32) are back in action Tuesday against visiting Orlando, and they desperately need a win in this one. Collins' crew is on a five-game skid, matching their longest losing streak of the season. The loss against the Knicks dropped the Sixers into a tie for last place in the Atlantic Division with Toronto, and put the Sixers 10 games under the .500 mark for the first time since 2010-11, when they opened Collins' first season at the helm with a 3-13 mark.

(Associated Press)

The Sixers won Monday, but they also lost.

Forward-center Thad Young went down in the second quarter with a left hamstring strain. Young, who will undergo an MRI Tuesday morning, was not available for comment. And by the sound of Doug Collins, Young isn't expected back before the All-Star break.

Here's what a few of Young's teammates had to say regarding his injury:

Jrue Holiday: “Somebody's got to step up. Obviously with the energy and intensity he brings, everybody's got to step up a lot. I think Arnett (Moultrie) coming off the bench is going to give us a big lift. We have bigs like Spencer (Hawes), who played really well tonight, and Lavoy (Allen), who played really good defense. We all have to come together a little more.”

Spencer Hawes: “I know it's going to hurt Thad, but he's still going to be up cheering, doing whatever he can and in any capacity to help us win. … You can't just replace what he brings every night.”

Nick Young: “Losing him for a couple games, when we're trying to make a push, it's tough. Somebody's got to step up.”

Thad Young, in his first season as a starter, was averaging 15 points and nearly 8 rebounds per game for the Sixers (21-26), who won their third straight game, matching a season-long winning streak, with a 78-61 victory over the Orlando Magic.

(Associated Press)

The 76ers' Andrew Bynum spoke Monday, giving an update on his knees. Here's a quick recap:

• He doesn't know when he'll debut.
• He doesn't know when he'll begin practicing.
• He doesn't feel any pain … unless he's jumping, doing lateral stuff, defensive slides, or getting low.

So...there's that. Here's the full transcript of what Bynum had to say, before the Sixers hosted Orlando.

Some lateral stuff last week. Just continuing that?
“Yeah. Now we're up to two-, two-and-a-half, three-hour days – running, elliptical, weights and basketball at the same time. It's good.”

Set any target date to debut?
“Not a specific target date, but it's in February. That's the target I guess.”

What exactly is still keeping you out?
“My doctor said it's fear of a big bone bruise, so we need to nurse it back up to playable conditions without having a setback or creating a bone bruise.”

How did the injections help?
“They didn't really help all that much. My right knee, I mean, I guess it feels phenomenal. My left knee still feels a little bit of that stuff. It was an attempt I guess at kind of trying to ease the pain a bit, but it hasn't really changed.”

A little bit of that stuff – pain?
“Yeah.”

Set any target date to practice?
“I have not. I don't have any idea about that yet.”

What activities hurt?
“Jumping, impact. Just from jumping, lateral stuff, defensive slides, getting low. It's almost like a range issue, like a range-of-motion issue.”

How much weight do you bear on the antigravity treadmill?
“Doing 75 to 80 percent.”

Does the anticipation make it feel like you're rookie season again?
“No. (laughs) I just want the first game to come. I definitely won’t be nervous.”

Will you head to Los Angeles during the All-Star break?
“I’ll probably go to LA for a bit (over all-star break), come back and be back at it Sunday or Monday.”

You doing stuff on the floor by yourself?
“It’s still 1-on-0. It’s more aggressive, but it’s still 1-on-0. I hope to be at that stage soon, at least 1-on-1.”

Is there any way you WON'T play this month?
“At this point, no. The only reason I wouldn’t play would probably be a bone bruise or something like that.”

How's the cartilage situation?
“It’s in there. We just want to grind it up. We’re trying to grind it up without creating a bone bruise. It’s a fine line. It catches. It used to catch in my right knee, but it broke off and ground up. I don’t feel anything in my right knee. We just hope this one does the same.”

(Associated Press)

The Sixers -- well, two of them -- made some odd picks for Super Bowl XLVII.

California kid Nick Young went against San Francisco, as did Spencer Hawes, the Seattle-bred center whose allegiance to the Seahawks runs deep.

Said Young: “I made some big bets this week. I'm going with the Ravens. I don't see Ray Lewis losing. He's going to come out, doing the dance, and that's it.”

Hawes picked the Baltimore Ravens, as well, though he had other things in mind.

“I don't really care who wins. I just want San Francisco to lose,” he said. "I'm a Ravens fan for the week."

Where Hawes would watch Sunday's big game remained to be seen.

"I don't know what I'm doing yet. I'm sure some of the guys will get together," he said. "I don't know who's cooking, though. That's probably the main thing."

The Sixers (20-26) are back in action Monday against visiting Orlando.