The offseason acquisition of Elton Brand figured to make the Philadelphia 76ers a contender in the Eastern Conference. Thanks in part to Brand's strong outing in his last game, the club isn't sweating its slow start.
Brand and the 76ers look to build on their first win in more than a week Friday night when they visit the Indiana Pacers, winners of three straight thanks to their own offseason addition.
Philadelphia lured Brand away from the Los Angeles Clippers with a five-year, $80 million contract over the summer. The two-time All-Star joined a Sixers team that finished strong last season, advancing to the postseason and giving Detroit a battle in the first round.
With Brand aboard, Philadelphia (3-5) expected to make even more noise in the playoffs this season, but the Sixers struggled out of the gate, losing five of their first seven games. They suffered through a three-game skid Nov. 5-11 in which they shot under 40.0 percent from the field and lost by double figures each time.
The Sixers, though, are feeling much better after their 106-96 win over Toronto on Wednesday night. Brand had a season-high 25 points and made 12 of his 21 shots as Philadelphia shot 53.8 percent as a team.
"Just for team morale and team psyche, it's a big win for us," Brand said.
Andre Iguodala, in his fifth season with the club, says the Sixers stopped worrying about winning and got back to their style of play in the victory.
"We haven't really been having fun," said Iguodala, who had 18 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. "We've just been thinking 'How can we play with each other, how can we win? How can we not make mistakes?' That's when you make mistakes, when you start thinking a little bit too much. Tonight we were a little bit more free, we were shooting the ball with more confidence."
If the Sixers can continue to play that way, Iguodala thinks they shouldn't have any problems meeting the high expectations that came with Brand's signing.
"Last year we'd go through streaks where we would lose eight or nine in a row and kind of didn't know how to get out of it," he said. "We would look at the schedule and say 'All right, what's the next game we can win?' We've got good veteran guys now and it's like the next game, we can win, no matter what."
The Pacers (4-3) could be entering this game with just as much confidence after winning their last three by an average of 12.3 points. T.J. Ford, acquired in the July trade that sent Jermaine O'Neal to Toronto, has keyed the streak, averaging 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists.
"He has shown what we have been missing the last couple of years," forward Jeff Foster said after Indiana's 98-87 win over New Jersey on Wednesday night. "He gets in the lane and causes havoc for other teams and he's guarding guys really well, too, slowing down their offense and giving them less time for shots. He has been huge for us."
The Pacers won Wednesday despite playing without injured starters Danny Granger (quadriceps), Troy Murphy (flu) and Mike Dunleavy (knee), the club's top three scorers last season. Pacers coach Jim O'Brien downplayed the injuries.
"It's an insult to the guys that have uniforms on to worry about guys that don't have uniforms on," said O'Brien, the Sixers' coach in 2004-05. "Everybody has to step up. You lose games and people don't care who's out. They don't care. We don't worry about that. We just play with what we have."
The Pacers hope to have Granger and Murphy back Friday, but Dunleavy's status is still uncertain. He hasn't played this season because of tendinitis in his right knee.
Indiana swept its three-game season series with Philadelphia last season, winning by an average of 11.0 points.