First-place Sixers and Rivers facing important tests
Doc Rivers knows what it takes to win an NBA title and he likes where 76ers are headed
The Sixers are winning. They are in first place in their conference. They just beat the top team in the West.
So, what kind of strife possibly could scissor into them as they ready for the second half of the season, beginning at 8 Thursday night with a visit from the Chicago Bulls?
Well … their two AllStars could go for haircuts and, in so doing, accidentally provide a reminder that any player can go missing at any time under 2021 NBA health regulations.
Not that Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid took ill after recently engaging in personal grooming, but their contact with an allegedly coronavirus-stricken barber was enough to bar them from the Sunday All-Star Game in Atlanta under NBA contact-tracing agreements.
“I’ve talked to both of them,” Doc Rivers said after coaching Team Durant in a 170-150 loss to Team LeBron Sunday. “So far, so good for their testing. They feel great. They both obviously wanted to play.
“We’re disappointed, but their biggest concern was being able to play the first two games when we get back.”
The Sixers will Washington Friday.
The negative test results are an early indication that Embiid and Simmons were not infected. However, players ruled to have been in contact with infected individuals must test negative for five days before returning to the court. As Rivers understands it, the
visit encounter with the barber was Saturday, which would give the Sixers just enough time to clear their two AllStars to play Thursday.
The scare, however, was a cold reminder that anything short of Simmons and Embiid being cleared fully to play in the second half of the season, save for the occasional sports-science recess, will be critical to any Sixers’ championship chances.
“We need more good news,” Rivers said. “In five days, we’ll be in the clear. But anything longer, and they may miss games.”
At the minimum, the barbershop misfortune showed how vulnerable any team can be to stringent NBA virus and tracking regulations.
“That is going to be really important for us,” Rivers said. “It would be tough to start the second half of the year and not have those players.”
Embiid is having his best NBA season, averaging a career-high 30.2 points. Simmons has settled into a role as a defensive stopper with the ability to create offense from inside the lane.
Through 36 games, the Sixers have been affected yet not decimated by health regulations. Seth Curry missed seven games after being infected, and never fully recovered his consistency. But, all possibilities considered, Rivers’ team has been diligent in its adherence to health regulations and highly successful in its virus testing.
To Rivers, full staffing will be critical to any success.
“When we get it back and get everybody together,” he said, “it will be good for us.”
The Sixers have 36 games remaining, a trade
deadline to attack, a playoff race to navigate and, ultimately, a postseason to prove they are as good as they’ve shown.
“Every two days, we play a game,” Furkan Korkmaz said. “We need to take care
of our bodies first and then our mental health because it’s a long season. We want to win every game. That’s our mission. And everybody has to take care of their body and stay together.”