Rookie Vucevic misses New Orleans game with bad back

On a day when the 76ers traded big man Marreese Speights, they lost another for Wednesday's game at the New Oleans Hornets.

Rookie Nikola Vucevic was a late scratch when he strained his back in warmups. Vucevic was out on the court doing his normal workout with teammates and assistant coaches about 2 and a half hours prior to the game and seemed fine. Later, though, about an hour before the game, he gingerly walked into the locker room behind head trainer Jesse Wright.