With Embiid out, Bradley able to make his mark
When Joel Embiid left the 76ers’ lineup, for first a close shave in contact tracing then a knee injury that will cost him at least two weeks, coach Doc Rivers decreed that Dwight Howard, so outstanding this year with the second unit, would remain there.
Implicit in that move is that the Sixers’ other center, Tony Bradley, would then get the nod in the starting lineup when Rivers needed a height boost.
For the third time in the last four games, Bradley got the nod Tuesday against the New York Knicks, bringing him to four starts this season, or more than in his first three NBA seasons combined.
Rivers said that Bradley’s work has owed to the 23-year-old former late-first-round pick’s work on his fitness level.
“It started with his con
ditioning,” Rivers said earlier Tuesday. “We had a heart-to-heart beginning of the year, you’ve got to get in better shape, and he did that. A lot of guys don’t do it. You can tell them that, but it’s hard work once you start camp and shedding pounds and getting in better shape, and he’s done that.
“He’s 23. I think we forget that with him. I think people think he’s like 29, 30 years old. He’s not. He’s a young kid and he’s still smart in the game as well.”
Bradley played 58 games last season, starting three and averaging 11.4 minutes per game. Minutes have dried up in Philly as the third center between two Hall-ofFame-track players. Yet he’s had an impact.
Against the Spurs on Sunday, Bradley played 21 minutes, scoring four points, eight rebounds, four assists and a plus-18 rating. In Chicago, Bradley scored 14 points, tying his second-highest NBA total, plus five rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes. He was a plus-9.
The key, Rivers said, is in discovering roles. Bradley isn’t going to play like Embiid or Howard, but with the floor-spreaders and ballhandlers around him, he can work within that construct.
“I think that goes along with minutes and knowing his role,” Rivers said. “I think he understands that we call him the pick machine. He’s got to keep finding guys to pick, and once he does, he’ll roll and we’ll find you. And he’s doing that.”
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Rivers remains close to Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who was his associate head coach for three seasons in Boston from 2007-10. He said they talk often and that all the stories about him being a basketball fiend are true.
“His love is basketball,” Rivers said. “Early on, I tried to get him out of the office, and I just realized that would make him unhappy. So just let him be.”
One topic of discussion that’s “poor form” to Doc is bringing up playing time for his son, the Knicks’ Austin Rivers. Austin didn’t travel to Philadelphia for what is being termed “personal reasons.” Rivers hasn’t played since Feb. 13.
“That’s basketball. I stay out of that,” Doc said. “Tom and I have talked, but we don’t talk about Austin. I don’t call coaches and send suggestions of who they should play, whether it’s your son or not.”