PHILADELPHIA — With the NBA trade deadline three weeks away, Doc Rivers was asked Wednesday what the 76ers need to acquire to ensure a deep postseason run.
“Right now, when we’re whole with what we have, we’ve been pretty good,” the coach said. “Whether that means we go deep (in the playoffs), I don’t know that. Maybe we’re overachieving. I don’t know that.
“I don’t focus on what we don’t have because that’s silly for me to do - I can only focus on what we done have.”
Rivers added that he likes his team and wouldn’t make a prediction.
The general belief is the Sixers need a consistent second scorer to play with Joel Embiid. However, he was a successful one-man show Wednesday night in the Sixers’ 123-110 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Wells Fargo Center.
Embiid finished with a career-high-tying 50 points to go with 12 rebounds and three blocks in just 27 minutes, 3 seconds. He made 17 of 23 shots and went 15 for 17 from the foul line.
Tobias Harris scored 21 points and Tyrese Maxey added 14 as the Sixers (26-18) posted their 10th win in 12 games. Meanwhile, the Magic dropped to 8-38 while losing 13 of their last 14 games.
The Embiid Show
Embiid looked like a player in desperate need of some help in the first quarter.
The four-time All-Star scored 20 of the Sixers’ 25 first-quarter points. Embiid’s first-quarter points came on 8-for-10 shooting. His teammates made just 1 of 9 shots before he was subbed out of the game with 1:21 left in the quarter.
Afterward, Georges Niang buried a 3-pointer before Andre Drummond missed an alley-oop dunk.
The Sixers took a four-point lead into the second quarter.
The Magic went on to an 57-47 lead into the half. However, the Sixers got back into the game thanks to a dominant third-quarter by Embiid. He scored 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the quarter. His step-back 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the quarter gave him 47 points and the Sixers a 92-80 lead. At that point, he had two more points than his teammates combined.
Embiid played just 1:25 of the fourth quarter. He scored three points from the foul line before exiting the game for good with 6:25 remaining.
Mo Bamba’s Night
Magic center Mo Bamba finished with a career-high 32 points. The fourth-year player did most of his damage in the first half. Bama shot 7 for 8 from 3 and was left wide open on most of his 3-point attempts. He fouled out with 6:26 remaining.
Starting Charlie Brown Jr.
On this night, the Sixers went with a starting lineup of Charlie Brown Jr., Harris, Embiid, Seth Curry and Maxey. This marked Brown’s first start after signing a two-way contract with the Sixers on Jan. 11. It was the second start of his three-year NBA career. The small forward’s other start came as an Oklahoma City Thunder back on May 1, 2021.
Brown looked like a guy overly excited to make his first start for his hometown team.
Defensively, the Northeast Philly native was scrambling over the place. He was skittish on the offensive end.
However, he did have one block, committed a foul and missed his lone shot attempt before being subbed out of the game with 5:34 left in the first quarter. Brown ended with three points.
Areas to improve
Rivers did agree that the Sixers had certain needs.
“But I also believe every team has needs,” he said. “Unless there’s a perfect team out there, there’s needs everywhere. And we clearly would like to address some of ours. There’s no doubt about that. I’m not saying I don’t want to make our team better.
“But at the end of the day, as a coach, you just have to worry about what you have.
However, this current group needs more consistent rebounding. They ranked last in the league at 42.1 rebounds per game heading into Wednesday’s contest. The Sixers also need someone to step up and become a consistent playmaker.
“I’ve had a lot of success getting teams to the playoffs and never struggled with that,” Rivers said. “You need playmakers in the playoffs. You just do. They’re going to take you out of their stuff. You need guys that are going to be able to make plays for themselves and for others. The more you have, the better team you have, the better chance you have.”
Milton won’t share return date
This marked the eighth game that Shake Milton has missed after suffering a back contusion in a game against the Houston Rockets on Jan. 3.
“After I got hit, my back just kind of, a combination of spasms and just really tightening and locking up,” Milton said.
Since then, the reserve point guard has undergone acupuncture, massage therapy and treatment. He’s been on the court doing individual drills for the last few days.
Milton has a target return date. He just didn’t want to disclose it Wednesday.
“Soon for sure,” he said. “I mean, the more I get out there and able to run up and down, you know what I mean? Play like 5-on-5 and get some real good runs in, I’ll be good to go.”
