Rivers ‘optimistic’ Hill will play soon
PHILADELPHIA » Not that the 76ers will soon shed their reluctance to outline a timetable for the franchise debut of George Hill, but Doc Rivers Friday did begin to open that possibility.
Revealing that the veteran guard had participated in five-on-five basketball Thursday in Camden, the Sixers’ coach guessed that Hill would return, “sooner than later.”
“We had a good workout (Thursday), a live workout,” Rivers shared before a 106-103 victory over the Clippers. “I think that might have been his first. Today (Friday), he was on the floor but not live. Tomorrow (Saturday) we will be able to do a little bit more than we have.
“We’ll have a couple days to do some work.”
The Sixers have 16 regular-season games remaining, so they are nearing the point where they need to integrate Hill into their system before the rotation shrinks to nine for the postseason.
Hill has not played since Jan. 24 after a thumb injury and subsequent surgery. The Sixers have said the 34-year-old shooter opted for a more complicated operation designed to lessen the possibility of another injury.
The Sixers will be off Saturday and Sunday before a 7:30 Monday visit from the Golden State Warriors.
“We have a couple days that we can do some work,” Rivers said. “So we’ll see. I would say sometime next week, I guess, would be optimistic. But I’m optimistic, so I’m going to go with that.”
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Never considered a plus shooter, but invaluable for his unique defensive instincts, Matisse Thybulle entered the game Friday having made eight of his last 16 shots, including three of nine from deep.
He’ll take it, although he doesn’t expect the mild progress to alter his responsibilities.
“I think my role on offense more or less has stayed the same,” Thybulle said after a morning shootaround. “Over the course of the season, I started to shoot a little more consistently. I am also looking to get straight lines to the hoop and to get out more in transition.
“But we have enough big guns out there on offense that my job is just to complement them as best I can.” Thybulle shot 2-for-4 Friday.
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The Sixers were without starters Tobias Harris, who was resting a sore right knee, and Seth Curry, who had left hip flexor tightness. Also, Dwight Howard missed his second consecutive game with a left knee
issue. Mike Scott and Furkan Korkmaz filled out the starting lineup.
Los Angeles was without Kawhi Leonard, who was resting an injured foot.
Korkmaz shot 5-for-12 from distance on his way to 18 points.
“We gave up 19 threes, and they had 39 attempts, which I didn’t like,” Rivers said. “I don’t think we showed greatness, leaving guys in the corner. But overall I liked our intensity and I liked our pressure. We forced guys into turnovers. They had 19 turnovers. I thought that was the difference in the game.”
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The Sixers began the game by scoring 20 of the first 23 points, yet
wound up in one-possession straits. It was the second consecutive game they wasted early momentum and needed to survive in the fourth quarter, following their 123-117 victory over the under-manned Nets Wednesday.
“We have some things we need to clean up,” Ben Simmons said. “We need to build good habits.”
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Joel Embiid provided 36 points and 14 rebounds. He shot 16-for-18 from the foul line.
For the record, Rivers has made his endorsement for NBA MVP. Guesses?
“I’m biased,” he said. “But I think it’s Joel.”
No kidding?
“I don’t know if I would vote or not, but if I did, it would be Joel,” he said. “Then, after that, it would probably be the kid in Denver (Nikola Jokic). It would be nice to see a big guy win it for a change.”
The last center to be MVP? Tim Duncan, in 2003.
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Anthony Tolliver made his Sixers debut, playing multiple positions in 14 minutes, providing two rebounds and no points.
“I just wanted to get him out there to space the floor,” Rivers said. “He did that. And I thought he actually made some good defensive plays for us as well.”