(AP)

Friday, Steve Nash turned 40. He’s the oldest player in the NBA.

What does that mean for the guy tasked with covering him, Sixers point guard Michael Carter-Williams?

“He’s Steve Nash. That’s what I tell him,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “I don’t care if he’s 60. He’s Steve Nash.”

A two-time league MVP, Nash has been a shadow of himself in his one-and-a-half years with the Lakers. He’s played only seven games this season, while dealing with nerve problems with his back.

Still, he knows a thing or two about using what he’s got. Nash, in his 18^th season, has nearly as much NBA experience as the Sixers’ starting five, which collectively has 22 years under its belt. Before Friday’s game against the Sixers, Nash was going through a pregame workout routine that would’ve elicited a smile from a fitness guru like Brown.

“He is so special and what I learned over the years is you couldn’t guard him,” Brown said. “He would sniff a pick-and-roll scheme out, and pick it apart. I learned you couldn’t show him a steady diet of anything because he learned his way to navigate through it.

“With Michael, I hope his length can bother Steve. I hope Steve plays his age. But his fitness level, his pride, he’s so intelligent … and he is just one of my personal all-time favorites.”

(Associated Press)

As the 76ers’ point guard, Jrue Holiday is going to have the ball in his hands more times than not … which makes him far-more apt to turning the ball over than any of his teammates.

Does it wash his hands of eight turnovers Monday night, in the Sixers’ 105-96 loss to Milwaukee? Of course not. But as Holiday puts it, it’s more than the law of averages that’s factoring into his miscues.

“I think it’s just my decision-making,” Holiday said. “I’ve had poor decision-making for the past five games. And again, I just can’t come out careless in crucial situations. Yeah, you have mistakes here and there. It can’t be as consistent.

“I just think I need a solid 48 minutes where I come out and play and relax.”

Holiday’s eight turnovers represented the fourth straight game in which the fourth-year man out of UCLA has had at least seven turnovers in a game. To put that into perspective, Steve Nash has led the NBA in assists each of the last three seasons. Never during that span has he had a four-game stretch with seven or more turnovers. In fact, he’s only had 14 of those in total in the last three seasons.

“The ball is in my hands a lot,” said Holiday, who had a team-high 25 points and is shooting 46.7 percent for the season. “Again, it’s not an excuse. I like having the ball in my hands, but I really don’t like making turnovers.

“I can’t turn the ball over like that. That’s about it. … I think I’ve found my teammates open and made some good passes. At the same time, in some crucial situations, you can’t turn the ball over.”

For all of those turnovers, Holiday does rank third in the NBA in assists, so take the good with the bad.

“I think I’m just trying to make something happen,” he said. “Sometimes, that’s not the case. Sometimes you have to be patient. Again, I’m learning. I’m watching film every day and I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.”

(Associated Press)

BOSTON --- The 76ers need a shooter. They need a guy who can consistently knock down shots.

In the offseason, they brought in three of those gun-shy guys, players who not only have a track record of pulling the trigger from long range but also those who have shown a proficiency for hitting them, too.

Without Jason Richardson, who might be able to return from a sprained left ankle Monday, the Sixers have entrusted Dorell Wright with that responsibility.

Wright got the start Wednesday in New Orleans. He's also more than likely going to start tonight at TD Garden against the Celtics in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference semifinal series.

While no one seems to be hitting shots with regularity (considering they rank dead last in the NBA in field-goal percentage), Wright can be that guy.

"Getting confidence," Wright said in an interview posted today to the team's Web site, is the key to getting on track. Wright, who owns a .298 field-goal percentage, would rank last in the NBA if he had taken enough shots to qualify ... which makes it an interesting decision on Sixers coach Doug Collins' part to continue starting Wright.

But here's the deal: Shooters are streaky. Wright's still the same guy who hit a league-best 194 3-pointers in the 2010-11 season. And this might only be a mere bump in the season for Wright, who's 7-for-27 from 3-point range and 14-for-47 overall this season.

The Sixers need Wright to right his shot. Tonight could represent the start of that.

* * * *

On a non-Sixers note, the Los Angeles Lakers today did something kind of unprecedented: They fired their coach five games into the season.

Los Angeles canned Mike Brown, who directed the Lakers -- who carry a payroll exceeding $100 million -- to a 1-4 record. (For the record, ESPN Stats reports that no team has every won the NBA Finals after starting with a 1-4 mark.)

It's a safe bet that Brown suffered the repercussions of putting so much faith in former 76ers coach Eddie Jordan and his not-so-vaunted version of the Princeton offense. See, the thing about the Princeton is you need constant player movement, cuts, picks and communication to pull it off. Not even the most star-laden roster can play the Princeton without chemistry. And it's difficult to develop chemistry when your point guard (Steve Nash) and center (Dwight Howard) have either missed time due to injury or are playing through pain.

That's not to make any excuses, because Jordan's numbers speak for themselves. I'm not sure why you'd put a guy whose teams own a .428 winning percentage in charge of installing an offensive system for the team expected by everyone to win the title, but -- hey -- that's just me.