First place comes second to load management for Durant, Nets
PHILADELPHIA » The night before the Brooklyn Nets were to play for first place in the Eastern Conference, they used Kevin Durant for 27 minutes in Minnesota.
In a 30-point victory, Durant ran and jumped and scored. He took 15 shots, scored 31 points and, at one point, helped the Nets build a 45-point lead.
Yet coach Steve Nash didn’t give the presumptive Hall of Famer extra rest, not even with the 76ers up next. Maybe if that lead had grown to 50?
“We definitely thought about it,” Nash was saying Wednesday, before the game at the Wells Fargo Center. “But we want him to have 48 hours between high-intensity physical outputs.”
High intensity physical outputs, in the basketball-to-English dictionary, means games. And Durant was scratched from a significant one Wednesday with a left-hamstring injury. Before stamping the get-well card, be advised that Durant was quite visible during pregame workouts, shooting dozens of shots from distance and maneuvering with no signs of stress.
Also unavailable Wednesday were James Harden (hamstring), Blake Griffin (knee), LaMarcus Aldridge (illness) and Spencer Dinwiddie (knee), just to drop some names. Chris Chiozza (hand) and Tyler Johnson (knee) also had the night off.
Kyrie Irving did return after missing the Minnesota game for family reasons.
Dwight
Howard
(left knee soreness) and George Hill, who has not played since January after a thumb injury, were unavailable for the 76ers.
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Even after a 3-1 road trip that left them even with Brooklyn at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, the Sixers were delighted to return home, where they had won 20 of 25 games.
“It’s always good to be back, especially when the city is finally getting some sun,” Danny Green said. “It gives us a chance to reset, recover and re-evaluate. It’s good to be around our families a little bit and to play on our home court in front of our fans.”
The Sixers’ 17-5 road record best explains the growth they made since last season, when they were 10-24 in road arenas. They are aware, however, that to win the No. 1 postseason seed in the East, they must maintain a dominance that allowed them to be 49-7 at home over the last two seasons.
“We haven’t really talked about that a lot,” Doc Rivers said. “We just talked about winning games, honestly. The home-court advantage would be very nice to have. We’re a young team. So it would make sense to have as many home games as possible. But I don’t think I have every brought it up to our team at all.”
Rivers, though, will not deny the Sixers’ remarkable two-season home record.
“I think we’re comfortable at home,” he said. “Young teams typically are comfortable at home. It’s surprising this year, without the fans. I could see it with the fans. But without the fans, we’ve had a lot of
success as well.”
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Nash knows what it takes to be considered the best player in the NBA. So the 2005 and 2006 winner understands why Joel Embiid is figuring high in the 2021 MVP discussion.
“Consistency and shotmaking,” he said. “Being accurate. Scoring the ball. We know what a dominant physical presence he is. But this season he has been really accurate from the mid-range and very capable from three-point distance as well.
“So it’s his accuracy and shot-making that has really taken another step.”
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The Sixers entered the game in second place among NBA teams in steals, blocks and defensive rating.
“We are unbelievably proud,” Green said, after a morning shootaround. “But I know there is another level we can step it up to. Transition defense is one area we are trying to get better at.”