Elton Brand went from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Sixers. Jermaine O'Neal went from the Indiana Pacers to the Raptors.

Neither put up much in the way of statistics yesterday in the Sixers' 85-79 preseason victory in the Air Canada Centre. Brand had 10 points and nine rebounds, shooting 3-for-8 in 28 minutes, 20 seconds; O'Neal had nine points and six rebounds, shooting 3-for-10 in 25:23.

"I don't know who is going to make more of an impact," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks diplomatically told reporters. "Both are going to make an impact because Jermaine O'Neal is an excellent player. And put [him] with Chris Bosh and the other people around them - they're already good - so it makes them a little bit better."

The Sixers' signing of Brand has been generally acknowledged as the No. 1 move in the NBA's Eastern Conference, but O'Neal could be nearly as significant to the Raptors. Still, neither team is anywhere close to that projected improvement at this point.

"All in all, I think we saw a little bit of them," O'Neal said of the Sixers. "You really can't take a whole lot from it because obviously they played some [reserves] extended minutes. But we kind of got an idea of what they want to do, and they kind of got an idea of what we want to do. I'm sure both teams will be a lot stronger on the 29th of this month."

That, of course, will be the regular-season opener in the Wachovia Center.

Brand was very clear about what he expected from the Sixers, saying "It's early, but I really love this team."

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