Sixers' Lavoy Allen a fan of Ravens' Bernard Pierce

THE PRIDE of the Cherry and White was evident even in an empty hallway in the bowels of the Wells Fargo Center.

Sixers forward Lavoy Allen was asked if he had a rooting interest in Sunday's Super Bowl.

"Ravens," he said. "Because of Bernard Pierce."

Allen and Pierce's Temple careers overlapped for two basketball seasons (2009-11) and though Allen said they may not have been daily phone buddies, they would have occasional conversations.

"But I've been following him and know that he's been doing real well," Allen said of Pierce, who is Baltimore's second-string running back. "I'm happy for him."

There were a couple of things that Allen was not happy with before Wednesday's game, however. One was the inadvertent elbow to the chops he took on Monday night from Memphis guard Tony Wroten. The other was his own inconsistent play.

Allen played eight minutes on Monday and a total of 34 in the last three games. He had a total of seven points.

"Sometimes I've been struggling out there, so I understand [the decline in playing time]," Allen said. "I need to rebound, score more, things like that."

That's precisely what he did Wednesday when he tied a season-high with 14 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.

"Lavoy Allen tonight was fantastic," Sixers coach Doug Collins said.

The elbow by Wroten threw a little salt in Allen's wound, which needed five stitches to close a swollen lip. Wednesday's performance had him smiling through his sutures.

"The only thing that happened," Allen joked, "is that it put a little hold on my modeling career."

Sixers veteran swingman Jason Richardson left the team Wednesday to get a second opinion on his left knee synovitis. Richardson went to Vail, Colo. to visit with renowned knee specialist Dr. J. Richard Steadman.

Wednesday was the fifth consecutive game Richardson has missed.

"He tried to up his workouts a little bit and got a little fluid," Sixers coach Doug Collins said before Wednesday night's game. "I saw him on the alter-G [machine], which can monitor how much weight you are putting on your legs."

Richardson, 32, missed four games earlier this season with a sprained ankle and another with a lower-back strain.

Reserve swingman Damien Wilkins was not with the Sixers Wednesday for what a team spokesman deemed "personal reasons." Wilkins had averaged more than 16 minutes over the previous three games before Wednesday . . . Chester native Tyreke Evans and the Kings make their only visit to Philadelphia on Friday. Evans is second on the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game while shooting a career high 47.1 percent from the field.