With Embiid out, East race tightening
PHILADELPHIA » In the best of circumstances, the 76ers were bound to be caught in traffic around the top of the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Without Joel Embiid, they could expect to start losing ground.
Despite winning three consecutive games with Embiid injured or unavailable, the Sixers began to learn why that was a problem Wednesday in a 109-105 overtime loss to Milwaukee. Though they defended splendidly to build a 19-point lead and rallied from a seven-point late deficit to force overtime, the 2813 Sixers saw the third-place Bucks (26-14) dig closer to the top of the conference standings.
The Sixers’ first loss in seven games also allowed Brooklyn to close within half a game of the lead.
That Giannis Antetokounmpo provided 32 points and 15 rebounds with Embiid unavailable for a third consecutive game with a left-knee bone bruise was a strong indication that star power cannot go missing for long.
“I don’t even factor that in,” Doc Rivers said. “I just factor in the guys who played against the team they played. Obviously, having Joel helps us. But I don’t factor that in.”
If the Sixers had any postgame theme, it was that they were tired from playing a tough game against the visiting Knicks a night earlier. Their 7-for-24 fourth-quarter shooting served as evidence.
“Looks that we would take any day wouldn’t fall for us,” Tobias Harris said. “We can’t really harp on it too much after that.”
Should the Nets win Friday in Orlando, the Sixers will be a second-place team the time they entertain the Sacramento Kings Saturday night at 8.
“They’ve got a lot of talent on their roster,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “It always starts there, that their players are really good. Obviously, Embiid is having a special year, but you can go down the list. Ben Simmons. Tobias Harris. I think Seth
Curry and Danny Green have been good additions. The shooting that they bring really fits well. And defensively, it just feels that they are in a good place.
“Doc does a great job with them. They’ve got a lot of talent and they are playing well.”
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Curry left with 7:23 left in regulation and did not return with what Rivers called a sprained ankle.
“I don’t think it’s a bad sprain,” Rivers said. “I don’t think it is severe or anything. But I don’t know.”
Rivers said he had “no idea” if Curry would play this weekend.
Choppy all season, perhaps a result of an earlier virus battle, Curry had begun to loosen. He shot 7-for-14, including 4-for-7 from the arc in the 99-96 victory Tuesday over New York.
“It’s huge for us,” Rivers said. “He probably leads our team in turning down open shots. I was a horrible shooter. But if I had his shot, you never would have had that stat with me. It’s funny. We show him. We encourage it. We want him to let it fly.”
Curry shot 4-for-11 for 10 points Wednesday.
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Former Sixer Shawn Bradley was left paralyzed by a traumatic spinal injury during a bicycling accident, according to the Dallas Mavericks.
He had been hospitalized following the Jan. 20 accident in Utah, and he is going through rehabilitation.
“We’re really saddened by it,” Rivers said. “He still has life; we have to understand that. We’ll just send as much positivity to him and his family as we can.”
The Sixers made the 7-foot-6 Bradley the second overall pick in the 1993 draft out of BYU. He spent two full seasons in Philadelphia and a part of a third before being traded to the Nets in a complex deal yielding Derrick Coleman.
He played 210 games for the Sixers, including 116 starts, averaging 10.6 points. In his 12-year NBA career, mostly with the Mavs, Bradley averaged 18 points.
“He’s a brother and I knew Shawn, but didn’t know him well,” Rivers said. “When I heard the news, I was very saddened by it but I was very happy that he is alive. I heard he is in positive spirits and I am just sending him positive energy.”
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Furkan Korkmaz forced overtime with a threepointer from the left corner with less than a second to play.
“He’s always made big shots,” Rivers said. “He made one last year. The option was for Tobias or Furkan. Furkan took it and it helped us obviously. The fact that he knocked it down was great for him, too. He’s a young player.”
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The Sixers a veteran team, there is not an abundance of opportunity for young players. Rivers, though, has been impressed by the work ethic of the lesser-used rookies, and in particular, Isaiah Joe.
“He works his butt off,” the head coach said. “We have a good crop of rookies. Our guys work, man. They are in the gym every day. This morning I walk in to watch film and the lights are on already. We have a good group. These guys are going to help us at some point, this year or in the future, for sure.”
Joe, having finished the season with G-League Delaware as part of his two-way deal, has played 21 games for the Sixers, averaging 4.3 points.
“Isaiah knows what he is,” Rivers said. “He can shoot the ball. He is working on his dribble. And he is already an NBA defender, which is nice for a shooter. He’s going to be a good player.”