Doc Rivers, back in Philadelphia as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks? Oooh, let’s trot out the Bill Hader gifs as we watch those Philly fans sink their fangs into the ex-Sixers coach! Let’s watch Rivers squirm!
And, well, meh.
The paying customers did in fact boo Rivers during Sunday’s pregame introductions, but what of it? The Bucks then smacked the home team, 119-98, and afterward Rivers pretended he hadn’t heard the catcalls, begging the question as to whether booing Philadelphia fans falling all over themselves to be obnoxious actually make a sound.
The bigger issue, and the one that seemed to dawn on the assembled multitudes as this ghastly affair wore on, is whether the Sixers can be fixed. Because they sure looked like a mess in this one, their 11th loss in their last 15 games. Oh, Tyrese Maxey was good, but he’s almost always good. And De’Anthony Melton, playing his second game after missing the previous 18 with a back injury, had a nice third quarter, when he scored 11 of his 16 points.
But nobody else really did much of anything.
It goes without saying that they miss Joel Embiid, who has been forced to sit out 11 consecutive games since Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga fell on his left knee in a game in San Francisco on Jan. 30. Embiid, the reigning MVP and again the league’s leading scorer this season, subsequently underwent surgery to repair a meniscus problem – the team has been careful not to identify it as a tear – and won’t even be reevaluated for another week or so. So who knows when he can begin ramping up, much less playing in a game?
There are also issues of continuity, given the number of newcomers to the roster and the number of nagging injuries that have afflicted the club, beyond the one to Embiid. They look disconnected, disjointed, even a little dispirited. (Witness how the Bucks’ lumbering center, Brook Lopez, beat nearly everyone downcourt for a dunk with 0.1 of a second left in the first half.)
The Sixers also have a lingering Tobias Harris problem, which we will revisit presently.
They are 33-24 and fifth in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game ahead of Indiana and 1.5 ahead of the always-dangerous Miami Heat. Slip behind those teams and the Sixers are in the play-in tournament, which is not at all where they expected to be when this season began.
Granted, there are still 25 games left in the regular season. But the schedule is not without its difficulties. They face East-leading Boston on the road Tuesday, and visit Dallas next Sunday. Down the line they have a road back-to-back against a Knicks team that has already pummeled them twice this season (once with Embiid), followed by a trip to Milwaukee. And later in March, they must negotiate an 11-game stretch that includes nine games away from home, against such opponents as the Suns, Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Cavaliers and Heat.
The bottom line: Breaking even from here on out would be an achievement. It would also leave them with 45 or 46 victories, and a very difficult playoff row to hoe.
After acquiring Buddy Hield and Cameron Payne at the trade deadline and signing Kyle Lowry as a free agent, they are stacked on the perimeter but soft in the middle. Paul Reed, forced to play extended minutes at center in Embiid’s absence, brings energy and passion to the table, but is more suited to backup minutes.
Coach Nick Nurse also suggested Sunday that given the team’s current makeup, a change in approach might be in order.
“I think we can space (the court),” he said. “We’ve got more shooting, and we’ve got to do a little better job of drive-and-kick-style basketball with this group of guys. We’ve gotta get organized. Again, we need to get these guys a little more organized on the offensive end.”
He also had a few suggestions about what it’s going to take to unlock Harris. Including his 3-for-11, eight-point showing against Milwaukee, the veteran forward has managed 30 points while missing 22 of 34 shots in three games since the All-Star break. That is not sitting well with a fan base that is well aware he is making over $39 million this season, the last in a five-year, $180 million contract.
“We need to get him going a little bit,” Nurse said.
There are Harris-centric sets built into the offense, Nurse added, and Tobias can help himself by running the court and hitting the offensive glass. Something, anything.
Maxey being Maxey, he had some ideas of his own.
“I think that’s probably on me,” he said. “I’ve got to get him better shots, get him in a position where he’s comfortable.”
Maybe so, but Harris has been in the league for 13 seasons. He ought to have some idea of how he can raise his level of play, and how much the team needs him to do so.
His solution?
“Just find a way to get in a better flow out there,” he said. “Obviously the way that we’ve been playing, we’ve got to figure out a way to get a little bit more structured in our halfcourt offense and just keep being aggressive and looking for the shots when they’re there. But outside of that, keep making the right play. I think more times than not, getting into the paint. If the shot is there, take it. If there’s an open man, kick the ball. But I’m a person who prides himself in efficiency, and that’s at the forefront of my game – finding some easy baskets out there on the floor, and some easy looks to get going, and just stay with it.”
His numbers this season – 17.3 ppg on .499/.341/.899 shooting splits – look fine. But they always look fine. His career numbers (16.3 ppg and splits of .479/.368/.835) are likewise acceptable. Even his career playoff stats (17.1 and splits of .473/.351/.859) appear to be solid.
But the stat sheet says one thing, your eyes something else. This is a guy who rarely seems to show up when the Sixers need him most. The memory lingers, for instance, of his 1-for-7 shooting in Game Six of last year’s Eastern semis, a potential closeout game against Boston, or his 8-for-24 display in Game Seven of the ‘21 conference semis against Atlanta.
Still, it would be a mistake to lay the entire blame for the Sixers’ current malaise at his feet, just as it would be a mistake to point solely to Embiid’s injury. This is death by a thousand cuts, the wings of several butterflies creating a typhoon. For that reason, these Sixers won’t be easily repaired. It seems highly unlikely that it will happen between now and the end of the season, in fact.
The good news is that the only things on their salary cap come July 1 will be Embiid’s ‘24-25 salary of $51 million and Maxey’s cap hold. Daryl Morey can reshape this team in a hurry, pick and choose the free agents he might want to array around his two stars. Maybe retain Melton and Hield, for example. Maybe take a big swing for Pascal Siakam or (dare it be said?) LeBron James. Maybe get nostalgic and bring back Dario Saric.
Morey has options, and he will have cash. But for now, we are left to watch this team limp toward the finish line. Which is why any attempt to ridicule Doc Rivers fell flat on Sunday. There’s no use looking back at his reign of error. Better that Sixers fans look forward, and hope (once again) that better things lie ahead.