It wasn't visible in Tim Duncan's eyes, or Aaron McKie's drives to the basket.

But, last night's 95-82 San Antonio Spurs victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in front of 5,512 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center was a preseason game.

Duncan scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs to a wire-to-wire victory. The Sixers, who were missing two of their projected starting five, All-Star Allen Iverson and power forward Derrick Coleman, struggled throughout much of the game. The team committed 24 turnovers and had trouble with Duncan and Malik Rose in the low post.

The much anticipated debut of Keith Van Horn lasted just six minutes as his quadricep tightened up in the first quarter. Van Horn was 0-for-5 from the field, but had open looks at the basket.

"It was just something that developed tonight and something that if I take care of properly shouldn't bother me," Van Horn said. "If I keep trying to push it too hard it's something that could linger and I don't want that because my goal is to play 82 games."

Van Horn was brought to Philadelphia to help solve their shooting woes, but once again the main problem for the Sixers was their shooting. They shot an abysmal 30.6 percent from the field and 38 of their 82 points came from the foul line.

Second-year guard Damone Brown got a start and showed the ability to get out on the fastbreak and finish, but struggled with his jump shot. He finished 2-for-11 from the field.

Although it was just a preseason game, both teams played aggressively. Eric Snow, who scored 18 points, and Aaron McKie, who had 12 points, dove for balls and drove hard to the basket. Duncan, after being called for traveling, gave the official a regular season type glare and explained to him why his move wasn't a travel.

David Robinson, beginning the final season of an illustrious career, played just 10 minutes. He grabbed four rebounds, but went 0-for-5 shooting. Robinson, in his 14th season in the NBA and as a member of the Spurs, was excited about his team and getting out on the court.

"It's good to see all the guys get out there and get loose a little bit," Robinson said. "You go through that first week and everybody is just banging on each other. It's fun to go out there and bang around with the other teams."

Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown had to juggle around playing time as four of the Sixers' probable top eight could not play. Monty Williams missed the game with a left shoulder sprain and Greg Buckner is out 4-6 weeks with a right knee sprain. This forced Brown's hand into playing a lot of young players for extended minutes. Duke graduate William Avery played 26 minutes, rookie John Salmons got 29 minutes and second-year center Samuel Dalembert played 22 minutes.

The Sixers are looking to Dalembert to possibly be the long-term solution at center. Last night he showed the fans why the Sixers used a first round draft choice on him. His athletic ability may be his biggest upside. He blocked five shots, grabbed five rebounds and scored eight points.

"He did some terrific things, it was very positive," Brown said.

The Sixers are going to need terrific things from more players for Brown to stay positive.