Spencer Hawes had a tremendous start to his season. He was averaging 10.4 points per game and shooting 59 percent from the field. He was grabbing 8.8 rebounds a night and and handing out almost three assists.
The Sixers were 10-2 with Hawes as their starting center.
All that is great, except that Hawes' play is becoming a distant memory. He has missed eight straight games with a strained Achilles and the streak is likely to continue Wednesday night when the Eastern Conference-leading Bulls come to town.
After the Sixers' practice at PCOM on Tuesday, Hawes was asked when he will know if he is healthy enough to return to game action.
When I can really run, he said. If we could just play in the half court, I could be OK and probably cover it up. But when I have to run and get up on my toes and change directions, those are the things I have to continue to work on and be diligent about.
The Achilles injury sounds more abstract than concrete, but Hawes said after playing a game of two-on-two he actually felt great.
Today is the best it has felt, Hawes said. For me to be able to come out and play two-on-two or three-on-threeand a lot of it is mental, getting back to where you are comfortable and you dont have to think about making the movements. Sometimes when you are doing drills you can get caught up and get the competitive juices going and it allows you to get past that block, that mental hold of testing it out. It is still not 100 percent, but it is still the best it has felt.
NBA
The Sixers' offense has dipped in the absence of its starting center. With Hawes in the lineup, the Sixers averaged 102.6 points, shooting 48 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three.
In the nine games with the seven-footer sidelined, the Sixers' points per game have dropped to 90.7 with their shooting percentage down to 44 percent and 36 from three-point range.
Most notably, the threesome of Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday and Andre Iguodala have seen their scoring numbers drop the most, averaging a combined 11.4 points less than when they were playing alongside Hawes.
Furthermore, Iguodala was shooting a torrid 43.5 percent from behind the arc when teamed with Hawes, and was the Sixers third-leading scorer.
In the eight games without the big man, Iguodalas three-point shooting percentage is 23.8 percent and he has been the teams sixth-leading scorer.
The next time you hear Doug Collins say Hawes is ball-friendly and the teams best passing big man, think about the numbers and know the coach speaks the truth.
The Sixers did welcome rookie backup center Nik Vucevic back to the fold. Vucevic was in uniform Monday, though because of the solid play of Tony Battie and Lavoy Allen, the USC product never got off the bench. Still, he is ready to go. He joined Hawes, Craig Brackins and Andres Nocioni in that half-court, two-on-two match.
Angry Sixers
Anyone watching Doug Collins during the final 2:53 of Mondays game saw his unhappinessanger with Orlando scoring 18 points and the Sixers unable to get defensive stops.
Collins expressed his emotions to a couple of his players as they walked off the court with the five-point win.
Evan Turners displeasure with Collins choice words was apparent when he kicked a pile of towels as he went up the tunnel to the locker room. At Tuesdays shoot around, cooler heads prevailed.
There is a lot to learn from each win and each loss, Turner said. They hit some amazing shots also. I think one thing just in general is communication is key.
E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com