Shorthanded Sixers fall to the Hornets

CHARLOTTE - This is what it has come to for 76ers coach Brett Brown. Early in the first quarter Friday night, Charlotte coach Steve Clifford, who earlier in the day was named the Eastern Conference coach of the month, called for big man Al Jefferson to check into the game. Brown immediately looked down his bench and motioned for 37-year-old Elton Brand.

Though Jefferson has been slowed by injuries and a drug-related suspension this season, he is still one of the best-low post scorers in the NBA. And Brown's best bet to counter that substitution was Brand. That is just where the Sixers are right now, as Nerlens Noel continues to sit with a sore knee and Richaun Holmes is out with a strained Achilles' tendon.

While Brand did a nice job defensively on Jefferson, his ability to play more than a handful of consecutive minutes caught up with him. Brown then had to go with Carl Landry, and Jefferson proceeded to torch him in the paint in what became a 100-91 win for the Hornets (44-31), whose magic number to make the playoffs is now one.

"Coach is doing his best, doing a great job trying to manage what we have going on," said Brand, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes, 25 seconds off the bench. "We're fighting, we're not quitting. The guys that are here are playing hard. It's just talent. He's trying to find different ways to try and compete. We just can't close any games. But we'll keep fighting.

"I didn't know if I was going to be playing at all (when he came back to team in January), and here I am, getting matched up with Al Jefferson for 25 minutes. But we're prepared every night and we're going to fight every night and it's going to break for us. Hopefully."

Charlotte has won 20 of its past 25 games, including 11 of its past 13 at home. It was the 11th consecutive loss for the Sixers (9-67), who have lost 10 of the past 12 against the Hornets, including the last six in Charlotte.

The Sixers made it a four-point game with 4:57 seconds to go on a pair of free throws by Brand, but Charlotte responded with a three by Kemba Walker and a Cody Zeller dunk to regain comfortable distance.

The Sixers shot only 10-for-39 from three (25.6 percent), including 0-for-10 from starting guards Isaiah Canaan and Ish Smith. They also got outscored in the lane by 54-34. Still, they had a chance to maybe pull one out.

"Defensively, I don't think we could have done much more," Brown said. "To hold that team to 100 points here at home, and you can feel a fantastic atmosphere here in Charlotte, you can feel the city and the gym is getting ready for the playoffs, it's a hard game. Defensively, I don't have too many regrets. We needed to make more shots. It's almost that simple. You leave Charlotte feeling quite good about our defense. We just have to try to find a way to make more shots.

Speaking about the team Charlotte puts on the floor, Brown said: "I think that when you look at Courtney Lee, when you look at Nicolas Batum, and when you look at Jeremy Lin, they have gone from very much a post-oriented program with Al Jefferson, now to a hybrid where they can run, shoot threes, post Al.

"They really have a complete, whole type of roster where they can play different ways. I think that Marvin Williams, embracing that stretch-four spot, that modern-day stretch-four spot, has brought the whole thing together. It's just an interesting study to me, for those reasons. In a real crazy way, when Al went down for quite a long period of time, they were able to refine the style of play that they play mostly like now. Al comes off the bench, and they have a hell of a low-post presence playing against second-line defenders."

Jerami Grant and Hollis Thompson led the Sixers with 17 points each, while Landry added 16.

Walker had a game-high 27, to go with 11 rebounds, for Charlotte. Batum added 19 and seven assists, while Jefferson went for 13.

Though Charlotte did not play intensely for the full 48 minutes, you can see why this team could land a higher seeding for the playoffs. The Hornets move the ball extremely well and have budding stars in Walker and Batum.

"I think (playing unselfish) is the biggest challenge, with any team, simply because it's their profession," Clifford said. "We're talking about the best players. And there are two aspects to it. One is the monetary, where a lot of different guys are playing for contracts, and people look at stats. I think the other part is, for almost all of them, they're here because, for the most part, they were big scorers growing up. A lot of those guys, when they get to this level, instead of being the first-best player or the second-best scorer, now they're sitting at No. 8 or 9. And then it takes away from what they can do in other ways for the team. There's nothing that hurts an NBA team more than when guys won't pass the ball to an open teammate.

"You can talk about negativity or anything else. When you have guys like Nic or Kemba, who willingly move the ball to open teammates and they're your best players, it's hard for other guys not to. When your best players look guys off and hold the ball, it's contagious, and nothing ruins a team quicker.

"I think we have a bunch of guys who are team-first. And then they also understand that when we're playing unselfishly and the ball is moving, we're very, very good, and that's good for everybody."

Clifford has a bunch of guys who move the ball. Brown would just like to have a bunch of guys who are available to play.

It doesn't appear likely that Nerlens Noel will play Saturday when the Sixers host the Indiana Pacers. It's a given that Richaun Holmes won't.

"It's feeling better," Noel said of his bruised right knee. "It's taking time. I don't know when I'm going to come back, but I'm sure it's going to be some time pretty soon. It's only been getting better, day by day. Pretty soon, I'll start getting more activity going. I'll see how it feels (Saturday) morning, and we'll go from there."

Holmes could wind up missing the rest of the season wit the strained right Achilles' tended that has played a part in keeping him out of nine of the past 11 games.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog