They just do not want to see any more injuries.

For the second straight year, the Philadelphia 76ers' training camp, which concluded yesterday at the Bryce Jordan Center has been marred with injuries to key personnel.

Derrick Coleman, Allen Iverson, Sam Clancy, Monty Williams, Mark Bryant and Greg Buckner all missed practice yesterday with a number of ailments.

The remaining Sixers will open the preseason tonight at 7 against last season's Midwest Division Champion, the San Antonio Spurs, much to the players' delight.

"You want to do this [training camp] for a day or two," Sixers forward Aaron McKie said. "It feels like we've been up here forever so we are all ready to play games. We're tired of practice twice in one day."

The obvious sign that the week-long camp is ending was yesterday morning's practice. Scheduled for two hours, it began late and ended early, much to the chagrin of head coach Larry Brown.

"I don't like it but the players welcome it," he said. "[Yesterday] was a nightmare for me. We just had a walkthrough."

With many key players missing, it was tough for Brown to run his team through its usual practice, with the risk of further injuries, although the Sixers had a full-practice last night.

However, starting tonight with the first preseason game, there will be no more easy days. The players know this is their time to shine and make an impact if they are going to earn playing time during the season.

As a result of all of the injuries, a number of young players will get the opportunity to play big minutes in the preseason.

"I haven't heard anything [about playing time], I just keep going out there getting better and playing hard every day," guard William Avery said. "[I want to show] that I can knock down open shots and run the team."

Avery has struggled after leaving Duke after one year and is looking for a home in Philadelpiha. He is one of many who will get the chance to show the coaching staff what he can offer.

"We have 17, 18 guys on the team, and they're not all going to make our team," Brown said. "You hope some people that are fighting for a job will look good enough."

Many players will get that chance as a result of an unwritten rule of the preseason.

"With Pop [Spurs coach Greg Popovic] he'll probably ask me what I want to work on and I'll ask him," Brown said. "We'll try to accommodate each other and substitute in a pattern his young players will get a chance and mine do."

Tonight's game will not have a typical Spurs vs. Sixers flavor, but rather serve as a chance for players to make an impression on their coaches and look to earn playing time down the line.

And hopefully, there won't be any more injuries.