‘Doc’ just what the 76ers ordered
PHILADELPHIA » For the 1,552nd time Wednesday, Doc Rivers drove to an arena and tried to improve as a basketball coach. For the 901st time it worked.
Limited in training camp, new to a team of veterans and veteran egos, new to a city that can occasionally critique a sporting event, Rivers guided the Sixers to a 113-107 victory over the Washington Wizards, gaining every edge, playing every angle.
Trailing late, the Sixers tightened their defense, spread their offense and executed with precision in the final two minutes. In a season that will go on for months, in a coaching career that has nosed into its 21st year, it was a game that could be lost whenever it is that Rivers joins the Hall of Fame. But for one night, when so many were watching or wondering or wishing, Rivers had the Sixers right where they needed to be, when they needed to be there.
“You know what I loved about the game?” Rivers said. “We didn’t play well.”
An odd take, that. Yet that’s where the satisfaction comes from coaching: Winning when it isn’t easy.
Flush with perimeter excellence, with newly acquired Russell Westbrook, eternal Sixertormentor Bradley Beal, and Davis Bertans able to shoot from anywhere, the Wizards played as if they’d bought into Charles Barkley’s guarantee they would make the playoffs this year. For most of the game, they made everything difficult for the Sixers at both ends.
Yet much as they did last season, when they were 29-2 on the floor, the Sixers did not panic. They scored on five consecutive late possessions, benefitting from Rivers’ decision to stuff his fourth-quarter backcourt with Shake Milton and Seth Curry, with Ben Simmons closer to the baseline. Long a coaching wail that it doesn’t matter who starts but who finishes, Rivers made it clear Wednesday that he will find what is working, no matter how the original plan was laid out.
“We had stretches where we played well,” he said. “But you could see it in the third quarter,
that our body language was struggling. They caught themselves and just found a way to win.”
More than once in recent days, Rivers had expressed concern that he did not have the preparation time he would have liked for a new coach with a remade roster. He knew he would have to keep most things simple, and that’s what he did in the fourth quarter. Simply, he had the right players around Joel Embiid when it mattered, with the Wizards, who’d played most of the night with the passion of a college team, suddenly unable to make a stop.
“The execution down the stretch in the fourth quarter for a team that hasn’t been together was unbelievable on both ends,” Rivers said. “So we love that part.”
For the Sixers to thrive this season, they will need Embiid to overpower opposing centers. While Thomas Bryant was willing to engage Embiid physically, he was an inch or two outsized and, by the fourth quarter, he basically stumped at the defensive end. Washington coach Scott Brooks’ alternative was veteran Robin Lopez, whose length could have bothered Embiid, but only if he’d chosen to move. Instead, Lopez was all but stationary and played to a minus-16.
Showing that reports from camp were that he was in good shape were accurate, Embiid saved 14 of his 29 points for the fourth quarter, keying the new-look Sixers offense. Six 76ers would score in double figures. Milton, who did not start, was a plus-33 with 19 points and the kind of excellence Brett Brown expected last season when he trusted him has his late-season starting point guard.
“There were moments where we got too involved with complaining about calls instead of moving on to the next play,” Simmons said. “But that happens. It’s the first game, and everybody is juiced and things like that. But I feel like we got out of that.”
It was one game in December, not a playoff game in the summer. But even before 20,000 empty seats, it had a certain intensity, likely born from multiple situations. One was the artificial noise in the building, which literally was on the level of a full-house, complete with an audio taunt of “air ball,” when the Wizards shot wide. But there was also a clear determination for the Sixers to play well for Rivers in his first game.
“There’s nothing better, in my opinion, than Opening Night when you’re in the NBA,” Rivers said. “You’re excited. You know you’ve put in most of the required work. As a player, you want to see how you measure up. As a coach, you want to see how ready your guys are.
“It’s really been tough to tell this preseason, because, honestly, we haven’t seen a lot of people. We played two games. But
I am excited about this year.”
There are reasons for Sixers fans to be excited, including Curry, who was steady when it mattered. Another was Danny Green, who started, provided little, and scored just two points in 18 minutes. But Rivers adjusted, and deserved a game ball for that 901st career regular-season victory.
On the eve of the season, Embiid was dragged into a comparison of Rivers and Brown. Since he’d played six seasons for Brown and one exhibition game for Rivers, it might have been a touch premature.
“I always say, when you win everybody wins,” Embiid said. “We have to go out every single night and do whatever we can to win.”
The Sixers did that in Rivers’ debut. They played hard for their new coach. He coached well for his new players.
“I can’t wait,” Rivers said afterward, “to see the film.”
He’ll be back Saturday in New York to try to improve again.