Rivers plays the numbers game too

76ers coach empathizes with Heat situation

Until this season, they stood as relatively innocuous numbers: the minimum available players required on game nights (eight) and maximum amount of players per roster (15, plus two on two-way contracts).

Then came the coronavirus pandemic, knocking standard NBA thinking back on its heels.

That numbers game has found itself front and center for the Miami Heat this week, first with Sunday’s game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden postponed and then Tuesday’s against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center creating its own equation.

Amid a rash of COVID19-related absences for both teams, 76ers coach Doc Rivers said he stands in favor of raising the minimum number necessary to stage a game but not increasing roster sizes beyond 17.

“I’m not sure if we shouldn’t raise the number, not lower it,” he said of the eight-player requirement. “I think the healthy chance of playing an NBA game, the number should be nine. Because at eight you’re taxing guys to play 40 minutes or more, and usually those are the guys that haven’t played.”

As for roster size, the league already has increased the possibilities for players on two-way contracts, allowing for up to 50 appearances during this pandemic-shortened 72-game season, compared to the previous rule of no more than 45 days per season with an NBA team (practices and games, combined) and the remainder in the G League.

Rivers said he views no appreciable advantage to go beyond the current total, even as some are advocating.

“I probably would not be on that side; I think a lot of people would be,” he said. “I don’t know that increases your competitive advantage at all. You’re talking about increasing your roster size with guys that aren’t even in the league.

“So I don’t know what that does other than it does do this. It definitely would allow you to play the games.

“But let’s just be honest, if you’re missing your stars, your key guys, you can have a roster size of 40 and it’s not going to make a big difference. You want your key guys to play in every game, and so do the fans, for that matter. So that to me is the key.”

For the Heat, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic and several other rotation pieces were removed from Tuesday’s equation because of contact tracing, just as the 76ers have struggled over the past week to fill out their lineups, utilizing only seven players in a Saturday home loss to the Denver Nuggets, following a positive COVID-19 result for guard Seth Curry, Doc Rivers’ son-in-law.

“This is tough. Listen, I don’t think any of us know exactly,” Rivers said of the balance of health and legitimate competition. “We’re in unchartered waters.

“You obviously are concerned with COVID, in different ways. I think coaches are probably more than anyone because of our age. We’re in the middle of huddles and trying to talk through masks, where they can’t hear you, and take ’em down. For me, that’ s been very difficult, I can tell you.

“And even past COVID, the competitive-advantage thing, obviously we were at a severe disadvantage the other night. And the argument has been made, should the game go on or not? I don’t know the answers. I’m sure, if you look at the regular season, you may have one of those games a year, probably not to the extreme that we had.”

In some ways, Rivers likely felt as if his team stood alone Saturday. Then Tuesday, the Heat found themselves in similar company, with Erik Spoelstra traveling from Boston with only nine players.

“But we’re trying to get through the season too,” Rivers said of the league. “So I don’t know the solution.”

ELIZABETH ROBERTSON |TNS Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers has his own thoughts on the NBA’s roster rules.