It has been fun watching Thaddeus Young hit his stride. He has three consecutive double-doubles and 18 on the season. A year ago Young had one double-double and he averaged 2.6 fewer boards per game.

“I am just going to the glass every time,” Young said. “In my earlier years I used to try and get back and not be that guy who is going to go out there and grab 15 rebounds. Instead I was getting back and playing defense but now we don’t have those rebounding guys that used to be on the team, so now I have to be that guy and make sure I get boards.”

Young has led the Sixers in rebounding 23 times this season. His 7.8 rebounds per game are a team high and his 140 total offensive rebounds are also tops on the roster.

Wednesday night against the Heat Young grabbed 15 boards, one shy of his career high.

“I think he is doing a better job defensive rebounding,” coach Doug Collins said. “Thad is so quick and when he sees that ball coming off ... he made three or four great rebounds the other night where he went up and got them, not where he just beat someone with his quickness. He went up and took the rebounds down. It is fun to see him really be engaged.”

“He is a real barometer for our team,” Collins continued. “When he and Jrue [Holiday] are playing at a real high level it so enhances everyone else.”

Young missed five games in February because of a grade one left hamstring strain. He returned to the lineup on Feb. 24 with his invaluable energy, but his game was not clicking on all cylinders.

“Sometimes when you are out a while I think you can lose your rhythm,” Collins said. “He is in a great groove right now. The three weeks [off] probably helped him. You hate to miss somebody for three weeks but that period of time maybe revitalized him because of what we expect from him every single night in terms of his energy. I mean, tomorrow night he is going to have to battle David West, who has him by 25 pounds.”

West and the rest of the Indiana Pacers come to town with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. In two games against Indiana this season the Sixers have averaged just 77 points. The Pacers are a physical team that gets after it defensively every night.

“They play with a lot of tenacity,” Collins said. “Their physicality is a big part of what they bring. They will post you. They play excellent defense. They maximize every possession and they are really connected. They are a together group. They started the year out slow but they have really hit their stride and they are going to be a tough out in the playoffs.”

The NBA playoffs will not be part of the Sixers' spring. Too often a team can look sloppy when the postseason is out of reach but the Sixers are actually playing a more cohesive brand of basketball of late. In the last two games they have a combined 60 assists. On the season they average 22.7 assists per game.

“I think it is just us growing,” Holiday said. “I think sometimes we try to do it on our own when things went wrong. Like coach says, when the ball is moving it has energy and obviously the ball moves quicker than a person. It is a lot more fun when everyone touches the ball and it actually swings and we are getting a good shot. As a team I think we're finally figuring that out.”