Tom Moore of The Intelligencer reports:
Welcome back, Elton Brand.
With head coach Eddie Jordan thinking long and hard before deciding against a lineup change that would’ve put Brand on the bench and Rodney Carney in the starting five, Brand responded with his best game of the season in Wednesday’s 86-84 victory over the Bobcats at the Wachovia Center.
Brand was a factor at both ends from the outset en route to season-highs in points (19), rebounds (10), blocks (six), steals (three) and minutes (42) for his first double-double since Dec. 12, 2008.
“Pride was definitely a motivating factor,” Brand said. “I thought I was playing OK enough to play in the fourth quarter. I had good starts before, but still didn’t play in the fourth.”
Brand has been a disappointment so far this short NBA season, averaging just 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game. But he’s coming off injury, so perhaps the adjustment was simply taking longer than expected.
Ideally for the Sixers, Brand continues to recover and look like the All-Star type of talent he truly is.
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