Joel Embiid finished with 38 points,12 rebounds and six assists. It was his 12th consecutive road game with 30 or more.
SAN ANTONIO — Doc Rivers and the 76ers can’t feel sorry for themselves.
They know the futility issues they’re experiencing is more of a league-wide thing than a Sixers thing.
Perhaps, that’s the only thing keeping Rivers sane under the circumstances.
His Sixers defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 115-109, Sunday night at the AT&T Center. They did so in their second straight game without five of their top seven perimeter players.
Ben Simmons has yet to play a game after requesting a trade last summer. Meanwhile, Seth Curry (left ankle soreness), Danny Green (right hip pain), Matisse Thybulle (right shoulder sprain) and Shake Milton (back contusion) are sidelined with injuries.
Curry is the starting shooting guard. Green and Thybulle split time as the starting swingman. And Milton is the backup point guard.
Due to their absences, two-way swingman Charlies Brown Jr. got his second start. Furkan Korkmaz started at shooting guard and Isaiah Joe was the only guard off the bench.
“It is what it is,” Rivers said. “... This is obviously tougher. Like you look at our last couple of games, just the guard play. When you have this many guards out, you are just trying to keep your offense moving.”
The biggest player on the floor helped the Sixers (27-19) overcome their absences.
Joel Embiid finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. It was his 12th consecutive road game with 30 or more. The 7-foot-2 center began that streak with a 43-point performance against the Charlotte Hornets on Dec. 6.
Like the Sixers, the Spurs (17-30) are dealing with personnel issues.
Zach Collins missed the game as a reconditions to return to competition. San Antonio had 11 players sidelined this season while the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Meanwhile, assistant coaches Becky Hammon, Mitch Johnson, and Darius Songaila are all away from the Spurs after a COVID-19 outbreak reached the staff.
“The fortunate thing is that it’s just basketball and we are not that important anyway,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, referring to coaches. “It’s a players’ game, and we try to keep everything organized and try to create a good environment, teach, and players go play.”
Holding onto the victory
After holding a commanding 15-point, third-quarter cushion, the Sixers’ lead dwindled to two points with 33.2 seconds left to play.
Embiid responded with a pair of foul shots on the ensuing possession to make it a 113-109 game with 14.9 seconds to play. San Antonio immediately called a timeout. The Spurs’ possession ended with Tyrese Maxey rebounding a missed three-pointer by Derrick White. After being fouled, Maxey made a pair of free throws with 5.6 seconds left to put the Sixers up six.
Maxey finished with 18 points and six assists. Nine of his points came in the fourth quarter. Tobias Harris also had 18 points as well as 11 rebounds.
Jakob Poeltl paced the Spurs with 25 points.
Dealing with this season’s uncertainties
Popovich and Rivers are among the league most successful and well-respected coaches.
Popovich, who has a 1,327-683 record, has the third-most wins in NBA history, and has won five NBA championships. Rivers, whose record is 1,019-712, is 10th on the all-time win list and has won one championship.
But this season is unlike any other they experienced as coaches.
In addition to dealing with injuries, there’s the uncertainty that comes with dealing with the omicron outbreak of COVID-19 that sidelined players, coaches and staffers on both teams.
On occasion, coaches literally wake up and don’t have an idea who’s going to be available for that night’s game.
“There is nothing we can do about it,” Popovich said. “There is really no solution. You just have to mentally deal with it and put it out of your mind. It makes it no fun and it makes it a real odd situation, [with] players out, coaches out, staff out. You just kind of piece it together. It’s like fingers in the dike, so to speak.
“The one thing about it is it is all fair. We are all going through it. It’s not just these five teams or these 10 teams. I think you just mentally have to put that away and carry on. It’s your only choice.”
Rivers agrees.
He was sidelined with COVID, as were assistants Sam Cassell and Brian Adams. Another assistant coach, Dave Joerger, has been sidelined since Nov. 13 while battling cancer. The roster had to deal with two waves of COVID outbreaks in addition to mounting injuries.
“Everyone has got stuff, the Spurs, the Clippers, every team you play every night,” Rivers said. “It’s funny, though, we coaches love to complain to each other and this year it’s funny when one starts complaining. [Clippers coach] Ty [Lue] and I were talking [after a recent game]. He’s like, ‘I’ve got Kawhi [Leonard] out [with an injury] and PG [Paul George] out [with an injury]’ and then he looked at me and said, ‘All right, I’m sorry.’ … And we started laughing.
“Every coach you talk to, it’s the same thing. It’s a combination of COVID plus injuries. Usually, it’s injuries. Now you have both.”
