Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Absence of Embiid is more than mere ‘maintenance’
Second road game in three nights. Joel Embiid absent.
This time … unlike all those other times … Sixers fans shouldn’t yawn.
Not that Embiid is so seriously injured that he will require prolonged rest, but Doc Rivers made it clear before a 119-110 victory in Indianapolis Sunday that the center’s absence was for more than the usual load-management obligations. That elevated the situation from normal to meaningful.
Embiid, who has complained of back stiffness throughout the season, took a hard fall in last Wednesday’s victory over the Lakers. Two nights later in Minnesota, he scored 37 points, but played just 27 minutes. By Sunday, he was unable to play.
“I don’t know if he took a step backwards,” Rivers said. “It’s just sore from the fall. He played through it the other night.”
The game was the fifth missed by Embiid this season. The Sixers lost the previous four.
“I can’t say it’s ‘maintenance,’” Rivers said. “But I can’t see that it’s something that will take a while.”
The Sixers will next play Wednesday in Charlotte.
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Rivers had recently mentioned that the next time Embiid needed a night off, he would not replace him with Dwight Howard in the starting lineup.
So it was, with the coach believing that Howard’s best value is as a foundation for the Sixers’ second team, that Tony Bradley started against the Pacers.
“I don’t know that it matters one way or another,’’ Rivers said before the game ‘’They’re both going to play.’’
Bradley played 17:02 and scored two points. Howard was large in his more comfortable bench role, providing 11 points and 15 rebounds in 25:15.
‘’I actually like Dwight playing more with the second group,’’ Rivers said. ‘’That’s what he’s used to. I typically try to to that to keep at least one group together. So you don’t kind of change that.’’
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The Sixers played a 2-3 zone almost exclusively as they outscored the Pacers, 37-15, in the fourth quarter.
Critical to the success was Matisse Thybulle making 11 deflections in the final 12 minutes, according to Rivers.
‘’Putting Matisse in ‘man’ makes him great,’’ Rivers said. ‘’Putting him in zone takes him to another level, because now his instincts and his hands take over. Those 11 deflections tell you how active he was.’’
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The Sixers had been 0-4 without Embiid. Rivers was clear before the game: That had to end.
‘’We haven’t played well without him,’’ he said. ‘’Forget the winning part. We’re going to have to. There are going to be games that Joel misses. There will be games that Ben (Simmons) misses. And we have to win these games.’’
So, the Sixers did, rallying from a 20-point deficit. One reason: Tobias Harris shot 4-for-5 in the fourth quarter on his way to 27 points.
‘’It was just positivity,’’ Harris said. ‘’For us, we just had to stay calm, stay positive and just find something. This is a game of runs and every NBA game, every NBA season, you are going to have runs.
‘’We played the zone defense, ran with it, got some easy buckets. We’ve always said we have to be a defensive-first team. And once we got those stops, that was just gold for us.’’
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Shake Milton continues to demonstrate that some players are best suited springing from the bench.
While OK as a starter in the Sixers’ four-game wipeout by Boston, yet far less than a difference-maker, Milton this season has thrived as a sixth man, playing with confidence, scoring in critical moments.
If the Sixers continue to roll in the Eastern Conference, awards will spin their way. Milton, however, insists he has not allowed himself to consider a Sixth Man of the Year candidacy.
“No, not really,” he said Sunday, after a morning shoot-around. “I’m just trying to get W’s. Each game, I am just trying to come out and get wins.”
Through 17 games, Milton was averaging 25 minutes, 14.6 points and 3.1 assists. Earlier, he scored in double figures for seven consecutive games, including 31 against Miami and 28 in Memphis in consecutive games. Sunday, he played 19 minutes and scored nine points. “We just want to be in position to win the East and then go from there,” Milton said. “That’s our goal. That’s what we’re trying to achieve. Individually, I am just trying to get better. That’s pretty much it.”
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NOTES » Simmons, who logged some five-spot time in Embiid’s absence was an efficient 9-for-12 for 21 points. ‘’He was aggressive,’’ Harris said. ‘’When he got out there in the fourth quarter, he controlled the pace of the game.’’ … Battling a sore left knee, Mike Scott missed his eighth consecutive game ... The Sixers will return to the Wells Fargo Center to face Portland Thursday night at 8.