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The Philadelphia 76ers last played a playoff game on April 22, and won’t play their next one until May 1, as the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks have yet to finish their first round matchup.
In light of their extended rest, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers gave his candid thoughts on the time off the team has had since sweeping the Brooklyn Nets.
“You’re ready to go, but the rest, at some point, will kick in and help, but it takes you out of the playoffs in some way, out of the intensity and the flow,” Rivers told reporters, per NBC Sports Philadelphia. “We will take it, I think, at the end of the day. This is the longest (layoff) I’ve ever had so, just trying to keep our guys as sharp as possible in all that is not easy.”
The Sixers are also dealing with Joel Embiid currently recovering from an LCL sprain that forced him to miss their final playoff game against the Nets, so the extra rest could potentially benefit Embiid health-wise, and by extension, the Sixers as a whole with him healthier.
Tyrese Maxey Reveals What Sixers are Focusing on
In light of their extended rest, Tyrese Maxey told reporters what he believes the Sixers should focus on during their time off.
“I think the biggest thing that we can do right now is focus on the Sixers,” Maxey said. “Even today, we got to play a little bit against each other, which is really good. We got to focus on our brand of basketball. How we want to play no matter which team we are playing against, how we want to play every single night. I think that’s the biggest thing for us right now.”
Whoever wins the Celtics-Hawks series could be pivotal for the Sixers. Should the Celtics prevail, they will have homecourt advantage over the Sixers in that series, but if the Hawks prevail, the Sixers will have homecourt advantage in that series.
In four games thus far in the postseason, Maxey is averaging 21.8 points and five rebounds while shooting 47.1% from the field and 50% from three-point land.
Shams Charania Reveals Positive Update on Joel Embiid
Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed how the Sixers feel about Embiid health-wise going into the first game of their next series.
“There is optimism that he’ll be able to play in Game 1 of their next series against Boston, I assume, or Atlanta,” Charania said on FanDuel TV. “He had a sprained knee, and I think they believe this is about a one-week injury. Assuming the playoffs start this upcoming weekend, the hope is that Joel Embiid will be in the lineup. He went down a few times in that Nets Game 3, but thankfully, it wasn’t anything major.”
Shams gives a positive update on Joel Embiid saying the belief is that it is a one week injury
“There is optimism that he’ll be able to play in Game 1 of their next series”
Embiid playing in Game 1 of the Sixers’ next series should make everyone’s lives easier, but it all depends on how healthy he will be when he takes the floor. Embiid has a history of playing while injured in the postseason, which may have influenced the final outcome in previous playoff outings.
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Doc Rivers, Tyrese Maxey Sound Off on Sixers’ Extended Playoff Rest