PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia 76ers are off to a 9-14 start after making some heavy roster changes and suffering some key injuries. The Celtics are 14-7 after letting their garden grow.

C's coach Jim O'Brien said yesterday that a fast start to the season was on management's mind during a quiet summer.

``One of the reasons we didn't want to do anything with our team was to have our team intact going into this year - to hope that we could get off to the type of start that we've gotten off to,'' O'Brien said following a workout in preparation for tonight's game against the Sixers. ``When you make personnel moves to improve your team, and then you have injuries, it takes some time to blend.''