76ers crumble, then two players grumble

You can't lose a team that you've already lost.

But after Tuesday night's 124-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons - an epically bad game in a season filled with them - the 76ers revealed a glimpse of the frustration and disillusionment that have been rotting them from the inside for nearly two months.

The catalyst for Tuesday's semi-meltdown was coach Eddie Jordan's benching of power forward Elton Brand and center Samuel Dalembert, followed by Jordan's public denouncement of the pair's effort.

Brand and Dalembert each played exactly 12 minutes, 32 seconds. Both played exactly 8:06 in the first quarter and 4:26 in the third - and not a second more.

They combined for 10 points (on 5-for-8 shooting), and six rebounds (three offensive, three defensive).

While they were on the bench, the Pistons continued doing everything they did all night, with or without Brand and Dalembert: They made three-pointers, dominated the glass, finished at the rim, and shot 62.7 percent from the floor.

Entering the game, the Pistons had lost a league-worst 11 games in a row.

But in that stretch, they hadn't played the Sixers.

The Sixers, now 12-27 at home, dropped to 26-51. The Pistons, led by Rodney Stuckey's 24 points, improved to 24-53.

In his news conference afterward, Jordan was direct about what he thinks of his starting front line.

"I wasn't happy with their play, that's flat out," said Jordan when asked if he was "resting" the duo.

Anything more specific?

"Defensive energy, mostly," Jordan explained. "Awareness, sense of urgency, that sort of thing."

Although Jordan pointed the finger at two players, he did not relay that same message to them.

When questioned about Jordan's postgame offering, Dalembert seemed taken aback. Brand said Jordan had said nothing of the sort to him.

"Let him be," said Dalembert with visible irritation. "Let him keep pointing. He's the coach. He's the boss. What am I going to say? He's not happy, then he's not happy."

Continued Dalembert: "Nothing makes sense to me. I was hustling out there. I start the game. It's not my fault if we couldn't score. I'm not going to go out there and play defense for everybody else. It's been the whole thing throughout the year. I wish he could have done that with everybody, if you know what I'm saying."

Brand admitted Jordan's words bothered him.

"Personally, I just think it might have been premeditated already," Brand said. "He knew he was going to sub and play some other guys. And it didn't work. We lost by 20."

Jordan scheduled no practice on Easter Sunday and no game-day shoot-around on Tuesday morning, hoping his team might have increased energy.

"We should come with a lot of energy. But that's going to work two ways: You're either going to come with energy, or you have one foot at the pool or on the golf course," he said.

It's not difficult to tell which way the Sixers have gone.