Amundson eager to learn and play

Finally, after all the uncertainty about moving from team to team and waiting to play in his first season in professional basketball, Louis Amundson had some fun.

Amundson played 13 minutes, 47 seconds for the 76ers in their 109-104 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks Sunday night. Although he missed both of his shots from the field, he had one point, three rebounds, one assist, and a blocked shot.

That might not seem like much, but it was huge for Amundson. It was the most he had played in an NBA game to date, and his point was his first ever in the league.

"It felt really good, yeah," Amundson, a 6-foot-8 forward, said yesterday after the Sixers finished a light practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

"Obviously, I was a little bit nervous out there. But I just feel like the more experience I get, the more comfortable I will be out there. So just to get that kind of experience under my belt, it felt good."

Philadelphia is Amundson's fourth stop since October. After he went undrafted, he signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings but was among the last cuts in training camp.

He decided his best way back to the big time was in the NBA Developmental League, where, in 25 games with the Colorado 14ers, he averaged 11.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.48 blocks and made the league's all-star team.

The Utah Jazz called up Amundson and signed him to a pair of 10-day contracts in February, but he played only two minutes of one game before being let go. The Sixers signed him to 10-day contracts on March 8 and March 18, then decided to keep him for the remainder of the season.

"I've been adjusting to it," Amundson said. "It's different when you have to join a team in the middle to the end of the season. They've been through a lot of stuff already. But the guys have been great making me feel comfortable. So it's been cool."

Amundson, who played his college ball at UNLV, admitted that staying patient can be rather difficult, but he is coping.

"I'm not going to lie," he said. "Definitely you get frustrated and you want to play. It's hard to sit back and be patient and wait for your opportunity, but the key is just to try to keep a good attitude, and when your opportunity comes, you'll be prepared for it."

During his time with the Sixers, Amundson has shown a nice touch around the basket in practice and an eagerness to go after rebounds. He swatted away three shots against the Hawks but was called for goaltending on two of them.

"As long as I'm being aggressive, I would rather take those calls than not go after them," he said.

Amundson said he would participate on the Sixers' Summer League team during the off-season and hopes he can return to the team next season.

"I'll try to work on my game as much as I can in the off-season and, hopefully, make the team," he said. "But if that isn't happening, I'm still confident that I'll be somewhere."

Notes. An MRI exam yesterday on Kyle Korver's right wrist showed a small tear in a tendon. Korver, who sat out Sunday night's game, had a splint placed on the wrist and will miss the next two games, tonight at home against Indiana and tomorrow at Boston. . . . Andre Iguodala (lower back strain), Samuel Dalembert (swollen left knee), and Rodney Carney (sprained left knee) sat out practice and were listed as day-to-day. . . . The Pacers, who have won three of their last four games since a 2-17 stretch, are chasing Orlando for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.