NBA Playoffs: Time for Sixers veterans to step up

Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala combined to earn $27.9 million this season. They have combined to average just 14.5 points per game through the first two games of the playoffs.

The lack of production from the Sixers’ two leaders is perhaps the most troubling aspect of the 0-2 hole the team finds itself in right now. While youngsters with little or no playoff experience (see: Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young) have held their own, the faces of Brand and Iguodala are on a milk carton.

“We need Dre and E.B. to get their average,” said coach Doug Collins. “We need 30 points out of those guys, because our bench has been good.”

Brand was especially frustrated by his Game 2 performance, when he went 1-of-5 from the field. One of the defensive priorities for the Heat has been preventing Brand from scoring on pick-and-pop plays.

“We have made adjustments,” Brand said. “Two shots in the first half? I don’t think they were denying me to that point.”

Iguodala continues to make no excuses for his 26.7 percent shooting in the series. He’s playing with knee tendinitis and shadowing LeBron James, but the Sixers desperately need his offense.

“I think that in looking at the tape we saw some things with ’Dre that can help him, too,” Collins said. “A lot of it is our spacing on the floor.”

Without production from their two veterans, the Sixers’ backs will be firmly against the wall.