Sixers Lose Brand For At Least A Month

By WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

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It might be time to officially call the Elton Brand signing a mistake for the Philadelphia 76ers, who enter Thursday just 11-14 and a game out of the Atlantic Division cellar.

Brand suffered a fracture and tear when he landed on his right shoulder in Wednesday’s win over Milwaukee and will miss at least a month. He won’t need surgery, but that’s about the only good news.

The Sixers are next in action Friday at Washington – bet on the game at WagerWeb.com.

While Brand is averaging a respectable 15.9 points (a career low) and 9.8 rebounds per game this season, his half court style is not meshing well with a Sixers team that took off last season (winning 22 of their final 32 games) when they decided to push the ball and run. Brand also is shooting a career-low percentage from the field and has hit the 20-plus point plateau in only seven games.

“It’s definitely going to be a blow,” said Philly’s Willie Green. “You never know with those kinds of injuries — I’ve seen guys get surgery and guys try to play through the season. We’re just going to have to rally. He’s going to be missed.”



While Maurice Cheeks was praised for changing the Sixers’ style in midseason last year, he was fired two games ago. Philly is 2-0 under interim coach Tony DiLeo, who will coach the remainder of the season.

Brand got a cap-killing five-year, $80 million contract this summer and has been injury prone in the past few seasons. He had been gimpy much of the season from the effects of Achilles surgery that cost him most of last season with the Clippers and the occasional hamstring issue, which had cost him two games this year.

Brand was hurt Wednesday when he bit on pump-fake Milwaukee rookie Luc Mbah a Moute midway through the third quarter and cartwheeled to the floor. When Brand left the game last night, the Sixers trailed by seven points. They won by five points.

“Usually, teams can compensate for a short amount of time, but then it usually catches up to teams,” said DiLeo.

Look for more minutes for Reggie Evans and rookie Marreese Speights, and also look for Philly to try and run a bit more again.

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