When the Seattle SuperSonics play the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, in all likelihood they will have both their centers available for the second time this season.

Both Calvin Booth (ankle injury) and Jerome James (foot) have been regularly practicing with the team lately, and Sonics coach Nate McMillan said if they hold up this week, both will be activated for the game against the Sixers.

However, with the team on a six-game winning streak, above .500 for the first time this season and displaying the best chemistry of the year, McMillan said he will not change the starting lineup to include Booth or James.

Art Long has been playing alongside Vin Baker in the frontcourt, and while at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds he is undersized, Long has performer well enough in tandem with Baker to help the team to its current run of success.

"We have been playing well with where we are at," McMillan said. "We are going to slowly try to get those guys (Booth and James) in the lineup, but I don't see a reason to just totally switch this lineup. Guys are playing good basketball. I've always said, 'If you are playing well, you are going to get minutes.' We'll stick with what is working."

When Booth signed a six-year, $34 million contract this summer, the team immediately named him the starter.

So far, he has been disappointing, in part because of the injury. In 15 games, he has averaged 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and less than a blocked shot a game. He is getting almost more fouls a game (3.1) than rebounds. So it is not as if McMillan is choosing between Long and a player the caliber of San Antonio's Tim Duncan.

"I don't think you totally switch your lineup if it is working," McMillan said. "Of course you want to get those guys minutes. But these guys are playing well. Art is doing a good job for us. Vlade (Radmanovic) has played well. Earl (Watson) and Peja (Drobnjak) are playing well. So we will stick with it until we need changes."

It is not inconceivable that the Sonics could run this win streak to nine games. They face the Sixers at the end of their 12-day trip, then begin a trip of their own against Memphis and Chicago before traveling to the much more difficult Minnesota Timberwolves.

"They can't mess up the chemistry," Gary Payton said of Booth and James. "You got to fit them in gradually. They got to come in and get their three, four, five minutes or whatever they are going to get and then go back out. When they get back to full sprint and they've played a couple games, (McMillan) can fit them back into the rotation and we will be more comfortable with them."

Long is a nice NBA story because he was on the verge of getting cut by the Sonics in training camp. Then Booth was injured right before the start of the regular season, so the short-handed Sonics had Long stick around.

"It is just being in the right place at the right time," Long said. "Coming into training camp, I didn't think I was going to be here. But things have worked out for me and the Sonics where we are both working together."

He may be the player the Sonics have been looking for for several years. Long is not overly skilled, but he is willing to knock somebody down when they penetrate, back up a teammate, provide a physical presence that Seattle has been missing since Vincent Askew left town.

"I've always been a part of a winning team, and I just try to find ways to win," Long said. "Even if it is not scoring points, I may have to hit somebody so they can't score points."

Long is averaging almost as many rebounds (4.4) as he is points (5.0), which is the way McMillan wants it.

Earlier this season, Long took some ill-advised jump shots, so McMillan sat him down and told him only to dunk or shoot when he gets an offensive rebound.

That is part of the reason the Sonics are finding success. Players know their roles, they are playing within McMillan's system and they are beginning to understand one another.

"I know my role right now is not for me to be an isolation (one-on-one) player," Long said. "Whatever Nate wants me to do, I will do that every night. Eighty-two nights a year, I will be right there in the paint."

Note - On Jan. 10, all player contracts become fully guaranteed. With Booth and James set to come off the injured list, the Sonics likely will waive Antonio Harvey to save money. Harvey has played in only five games this season.