76ers' Young discusses return

In five straight losses, the 76ers have pointed toward the hole in their lineup - created by Thaddeus Young's sprained right ankle - as the reason for their precipitous drop in defensive prowess, offensive execution and overall effectiveness.

Yesterday, Young played some competitive three-on-three for about 30 minutes. Afterward, he spoke about returning to the Sixers' lineup, possibly for tonight's game against the Boston Celtics at the Wachovia Center.

"I'm hoping so," Young said. "We'll talk to the trainer and go from there. . . . I'm a little out of shape, but I still can play right now. . . . No pain at all, so that's the good thing."

"We'll see how he feels," Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said. "We don't want to jump to conclusions. See how he feels after this workout."

Young has missed seven games since he was hurt in a March 31 win against the Atlanta Hawks. The Sixers won their first two games without Young, then lost their next five, dropping to 40-40.

The Sixers have two games remaining: tonight against the defending-champion Celtics and tomorrow in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, the top team in the Eastern Conference.

"In the fastbreak, he helps us tremendously," DiLeo said of Young. "He's a great runner, a guy that just plays and gets tip-ins and hustle plays. He will block some shots and do things. We do miss that element; it changes our dynamic a little bit."

The Sixers' slump has dropped them into seventh place in the East.

"You know you're going to have ups and downs during a season, but you don't want to have them at this time," said Sixers point guard Andre Miller.

"We can't point at offense. . . . Our defense is the problem. We've had this problem all year: Collectively, we're not on the same page."

Miller and the Sixers have two games in two nights to change that.

Tonight, Boston has little at stake. The Celtics have clinched the second seed in the East but are coming off Sunday's embarrassing 31-point loss to the Cavaliers.

"They probably want to come in and make a point," Miller said.

Tomorrow, Cleveland will be playing its final home game of the season. With a win, the Cavs can tie the 1985-86 Boston Celtics for the best home record in NBA history at 40-1.

Young said that he would be fine with playing in back-to-back games and that it could help him get back in game shape. But he was also realistic.

"If I have to wait until the playoffs," Young said, "I'm going to wait."

Miller said he tries not to follow the playoff-seeding race.

"But this time of year, you get caught following it anyway," Miller said. "We want the best seed for our team, to try to position ourselves for a good playoff run. Of course, everybody wants to duck Boston and Cleveland in the first round. Those are teams you want to avoid because they're going to be hungry and want to get those series over quickly."