Thaddeus Young returns to Sixers lineup

NEW YORK - He's baaack. Though he hadn't taken part in full-contact practices recently, or run much up and down the floor with his 76ers teammates, there he was in the starting lineup against the New York Knicks on Sunday night.

Sorry, not talking about Andrew Bynum here, but Thaddeus Young, who has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury on Feb. 4 against the Orlando Magic.

Young started the game well, getting two offensive rebounds on the Sixers' first possession then getting a steal on defense. It certainly wasn't the easiest of assignments to come back to as he was matched mostly against Carmelo Anthony. Young finished the night with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes.

"It's doing pretty good," Young said of the hamstring that cost him most of that Orlando game and six others. "Conditioning may be a factor so I'm going to stay on top of that. When I get tired I'll try to get that sub in there fast, and in a hurry. Other than that, I'm feeling pretty good and I'm ready to get out there and play. It's all about just getting out there and getting a feel for the game. I'm just happy to be able to go out there and give it a go."

During his absence the Sixers went 1-5, missing Young's quick inside presence at the offensive end and his rebounding at the defensive end.

And as coach Doug Collins stated when Young first suffered the injury, he is the team's most important player.

"It will be a shot in the arm for us," Collins said of Young's return. "Hopefully he'll give us a little speed out there. You get a little nervous with a hamstring, you always worry about that being something lingering, but he says he feels good. He gives us some speed, something we desperately need. [Saturday against the Miami Heat] not only did we not have any fastbreak points, we didn't even have one attempt.

"He gives us some early offense and he gives us some points in the paint. Even though he's not a post-up player, his activity [helps] and he has that little quick move in the paint - I think he was the fifth leading scorer in the paint - which tells you how much we need him.

"I'll keep my eye on him. It's something that with an injury like that you don't want him to get fatigued and then maybe strain it again."

That could be a bit difficult for Young as he usually just knows how to play one speed, and that's fast. It is how he is most effective and the way he must play.

"I'm not feeling it at all right now, but I haven't really played any major, major contact basketball," Young said. "At some point in time I have to do that to see how I can be able to play and give it a go. At the end of the day I'm feeling pretty good. I'm excited to play and just ready to be out there and help my team any way that I can."

On Saturday, the Sixers had to contend with the 1-2 punch of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. On Sunday, they had to face Carmelo Anthony, who is among the league-leaders in scoring. Though there certainly can't be much good about facing three of the best players in the game on consecutive nights, perhaps being in the same defensive mode can help.

"LeBron is going to be all over the floor with that ball with speed, and he's going to play point guard, he's going to play power forward, play four different positions," Doug Collins said. "Wade, [Saturday] was maybe the most efficient game I've ever seen him play. He had 18 shots and 33 points. He was playing great. Carmelo, they'll put the ball in his hands, they'll play pick-and-roll, they'll post him, they'll isolate him, so there is a few similarities. The one thing they do is, they really space you out and shoot the three, which is what Miami also does. There are a few similarities.

"The one thing with both LeBron and Carmelo is they're very physical and you have to be willing to stand in there and take the contact and stuff because there is going to be contact on every play with those guys."

New York was still without the services of Rasheed Wallace (sore left foot) and Marcus Camby (left plantar fasciitis). The Knicks recently signed veteran Kenyon Martin to a 10-day contract.