Getty Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers.
With the No. 3 seed sewn up in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers aren’t jockeying for standing. After a 52-point exclamation point earlier in the week, Joel Embiid is by far the favorite to take home his first MVP award. James Harden has been dealing with a leg injury for several weeks now.
So why on Earth were the Sixers starters playing in an otherwise meaningless game against the Miami Heat, a game the Sixers lost 129-101, one of the worst losses on the season?
After the game, Doc Rivers defended his decision to trot out the starters for the otherwise inconsequential game.
“It’s a tough call,” he said, per Rich Hofmann of The Athletic. “I have a lot of coaching friends in the league and talked to a bunch of them about this (game). That’s how much I was concerned about it. It was unanimous to play, and I felt the other way, honestly. I just think human nature is just hard, you know? It just is.”
Though Rivers ultimately listened to the crowd, he was particularly unhappy at himself, as he knew deep down the starters should have rested.
“I was more upset at me today because even though I heard everyone (saying), ‘Play, play, play,’ my mind said the exact opposite. Sometimes you got to go with it,” Rivers said. “We can’t get it back, so nothing you can do about it,” Rivers finished.
The Heat game continues a questionable string of coaching decisions by Rivers when it concerns the stars. Perhaps the most high-profile miscue came after Joel Embiid suffered a facial fracture in garbage time against the Toronto Raptors during last year’s playoffs. Embiid was forced to miss time, and by the time he did return against the Heat in the succeeding series, the Sixers’ momentum was long gone.
Joel Embiid Sounds Off on Loss Against Heat
Embiid, for his part, knew the stakes were low against Miami. It might help explain his and the team’s overall lack of concentration and effort from the jump.
“Obviously, it’s all about the playoffs,” Embiid said. “With no chance of moving up or moving down, you got to think about what’s best for everybody. Just talking to the team, we’re going to figure out tomorrow and the last game of the season.”
Embiid finished with 21 points; the rest of the starters combined for just 31. One bright spot from the game was Shake Milton, who turned in an 11-10 double-double, proving his worth off the bench for Philadelphia.
Chalk it up to the Heat having the league’s ninth-best defense, but Philadelphia’s offensive struggles have become concerning. Over the team’s last ten games, the Sixers have the league’s ninth-worst offense in professional basketball, just a few ticks down from the lottery-bound Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers.
Over their last three games, all against playoff-caliber competition (if you want to call the Heat that), the Sixers have failed to score more than 104 points. It’s a troubling sign and one that suggests the starters need all the rest and recovery time they can get.
James Harden’s 76ers Future Questioned
One of the biggest Sixers narratives heading into the postseason revolves around James Harden’s future in the City of Brotherly Love. The former MVP is likely to opt out of his team-friendly deal and seek a deal north of $215 million.
Will that come from Philly? According to an Eastern Conference executive who spoke with Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney, some in the Sixers’ front office aren’t worried about Harden leaving.
“There are some in that organization who would not mind at all if Harden left,” the GM told Deveney. “I don’t think he will, but he could, and even if he doesn’t, he is not going to get a real long deal from the Sixers. He is getting older, you don’t know how much of a commitment you want to make him.”
The Sixers are back in action tonight against the Atlanta Hawks.