Young comes up big for Sixers in 101-94 win

By Ryan Chatelain, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday February 6, 2010 12:27AM

PHILADELPHIA (NBA.com exclusive) -- When describing 76ers forward Thaddeus Young in his third season, analysts have tossed around ugly words such as "disappointment" and "regressed."

Young lost his starting spot last month and seemed to hit a new low Wednesday against Chicago when he finished with just two points and two rebounds.

But in a 101-94 road victory over New Orleans on Friday night, Young showed the type of scoring ability that was often seen during his breakout 2008-09 season.

Playing in his hometown, Young led Philadelphia (18-31) with 19 points in 24 minutes.

"It's not about proving anything," said Young, who was 8-of-9 from the field. "It's just about going out there and playing. I didn't come into the league struggling. It's about regrouping. Going back to the basics and working on the fundamentals to get you back to a starting position."

Young wasn't the only 76er to play big off the bench. Philadelphia's reserves outscored the Hornets' bench 50-27. Rodney Carney had 13 points, and Lou Williams scored 11.

Starters Andre Iguodala (14 points), Willie Green (12) and Elton Brand (11) also finished in double figures.

Knowing that Chris Paul was out of the lineup and that New Orleans (26-24) is relying on rookie point guard Darren Collison to run its offense, Philadelphia's game plan to was apply a lot of pressure on defense.

The strategy worked wonders. While the 76ers committed more turnovers than the Hornets (14-12), they outscored New Orleans 20-13 off turnovers and 23-10 on fastbreaks.

"They don't have a real solid point guard," 76ers Coach Eddie Jordan said. "The main key was we had to keep ball pressure on them, whether Collison's in the game or especially when he's out of the game. We knew that was the weakest part of what they had to do tonight."

Collison finished with 17 points but just four assists. He amassed 41 assists in his previous three games.

Philadelphia is now riding its first three-game winning streak of the season, and the 76ers did it without Allen Iverson, who did not make the trip to New Orleans because one of his children is ill. Green replaced him in the starting lineup.

Paul, out four to six weeks after undergoing knee surgery Thursday, wasn't the only notable absence in the Hornets' backcourt. New Orleans also was without starting shooting guard Marcus Thornton, who suffered a bruised lower back in Wednesday's loss to Oklahoma City. Hornets coach Jeff Bower said Thornton, who scored at least 20 points in three of his previous four games, is day to day.

Morris Peterson, seldom used this season until recently, started in Thornton's place and scored eight points.

Peja Stojakovic seemed to recognize that the Hornets needed a scorer to fill the voids left by Paul and Thornton. Stojakovic led the team with 23 points, his highest output in 25 games. He was 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

David West scored 11 points for New Orleans, and Darius Songaila added 10 off the bench.

"Maybe we have a lack of urgency," Collison said. "CP does a good job of getting guys ready. He's always making sure everybody's in tune for the game, talking to everybody so everybody's alert. So we definitely miss his presence."

The Hornets have lost five of their last six home games after winning 13 of their previous at New Orleans Arena -- a sign that the team could be fading out of playoff contention without Paul in the lineup.

Less than a week after moving into eighth place in the Western Conference, the Hornets have tumbled to 11th.

• 76ers: Brezec, Iverson
• Hornets: Diogu, Paul

• 76ers: --
• Hornets: --

• Lead Changes: 20
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
• Officials: #34 Marc Davis, #42 Eric Lewis, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 15162
• Duration: 2:16