Sixers Notes: 76ers center Hawes on the mend

The Sixers got some good news on the injury front regarding center Spencer Hawes before Wednesday's game against New Jersey.

Hawes did not face the Nets, marking the sixth game in a row he has missed with a strained left Achilles tendon. Before the game, however, Hawes did some work for the first time since suffering the injury, and he sounded pleased with his progress.

"Yeah, I worked out earlier and it went pretty well," said Hawes, who is averaging 9.2 points and leading the Sixers in rebounding (8.8) and blocks (1.67). "That's encouraging, to test it for the first time. I didn't do much running, just some post moves, shooting, and some shooting off the bounce."

So is he headed in the right direction?

"That's what I was able to take from it," Hawes said.

A team source said Hawes was expected to be back as early as this weekend and probably no later than early next week.

Sixers coach Doug Collins on Tuesday said that he expected backup center Nik Vucevic (left knee/quad strain) to return before Hawes.

Asked before the game whether rookie Lavoy Allen could play center, Collins said that he believed the 6-9, 225-pounder from Temple could give the team minutes at that position.

"I do think Lavoy could play center," Collins said. "He's very, very strong and he's got a great base about him."

In his first extended minutes of the season in Monday's 103-83 win over Washington because of the injuries to Hawes and fellow rookie Vucevic, Allen was 5 for 5 from the field for 10 points, and had six rebounds in 17 minutes, 26 seconds.

Collins said that while he was excited about Allen, he would like to see him string a few more games together like the one he had against Washington.

"Well, his body of work is one game. I don't get too excited with one blip on the radar screen. I'd like to see four or five of those in a row," Collins said. "But there was no hesitation catching the ball and shooting it. He was in the right spot, and as I've said before, he was a presence out there defensively. The constant thing with him is playing with the energy he has to play with to be successful. But we were thrilled."