Doc Rivers’ coaching is a big reason the Sixers stand atop the NBA’s East | Keith Pompey

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Doc Rivers’ hiring is working well for both the 76ers and the future Hall of Fame coach.

Nothing about this team, an Eastern Conference-best record of 17-7 before Tuesday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center, reminds you of the Sixers squad that was in a world of flux at the conclusion of last season.

The Sixers’ great start resulted in Rivers being named the Eastern Conference coach of the month for December/January. That’s a long way from being the scapegoat for the Los Angeles Clippers’ postseason failure in last summer’s NBA bubble. The Clippers fired Rivers after theysquandered a three-games-to-one lead and dropped a second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets.

Rivers, 59, bring credibility that this Sixers franchise lacked during the past seven seasons.

He is an ex-NBA player, spending a combined 13 seasons with Atlanta Hawks, Clippers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs. Rivers was the 2000 NBA coach of the year with the Orlando Magic, and coached the Boston Celtics to the 2008 NBA title. And as the league’s 10th all-time winningest coach with 960 regular-season wins, he’s coached several Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers in his 21 seasons with the Magic, Celtics, and Clippers.

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So when he speaks, Sixers All-Stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid listen, fully aware that Rivers’ instructions benefited Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Chris Paul.

For the Sixers, Rivers is a fresh voice. For the coach, this is a fresh start after spending the past seven seasons with the Clippers.

Rivers has Embiid playing at an MVP level. He has Tobias Harris playing his best basketball, and Simmons being multifaceted. And unlike last season, there’s solid team chemistry and players’ roles are defined.

He has the Sixers playing through Embiid. He’s making sure Harris is getting his share of shots, while instructing Simmons to do a little bit of everything.

Embiid, Harris, and Simmons have all accepted their roles, and the Sixers are thriving because of it.

“It’s a trusting system,” said Harris, who had a successful stint with the Clippers under Rivers during the 2018-19 season before being traded to the Sixers. “Luckily, we were able to see early on the things that Doc was harping on to really put into this system to play, and things that he knew would be able to help us win. We were able to see results early.

“For us, it was just being fine with that and accepting that type of role of how we need to play to be successful, and we can do it night after night. "

Skeptics can point to the Sixers’ record of 17-7 through 24 games being the same last season. Philly actually won 20 of their first 27 games last season. It was the team’s best 27-game start since going 21-6 in1984-85. That squad ended up losing to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.

To put last season’s start in perspective, the Sixers’ last NBA Finals appearance came in 2001, a season they started 19-8 through 27 games.

As a result, there was definitely a lot of early excitement with last season’s team that, as it turned out, wasn’t fulfilled. The Sixers were swept by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, and head coach Brett Brown was fired after seven seasons.

It’s true the Sixers had the NBA’s third-easiest schedule going into Tuesday’s game. Among the Sixers’ 17 wins, only the Los Angeles Lakers (19-6), the Brooklyn Nets (14-11), and the Celtics (12-10) have winning records. Even that’s misleading, as the Nets were without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Saturday’s victory, and Boston’s Jayson Tatum was sidelined when the Sixers swept a two-game home series against the Celtics on Jan. 20 and 22.

The matchup against the Kings marks the start of a four-game road trip that will provide a better gauge of how good the Sixers are. After facing the Kings (12-11), the Sixers will play Thursday at Portland (12-10), which routed the Sixers last Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center despite missing their three best players. Then comes Phoenix (14-9) on Saturday, and Utah (19-5) on Monday.

To put it bluntly, Rivers is coaching the team, whereas Brown managed it.

Under Brown, former vice president of strategy Sergi Oliva had a lot to do with determining the Sixers’ rotation and substitution patterns based on the analytics. He was an integral part of the coaching meetings and presented the coaches with an analytics sheet to consult during games.

This season, it’s about coaching, having a feel for the game, and making tactical adjustments. Rivers has taken out key players when their performances hindered the team.

One of his best coaching decisions was switching to a zone defense when the Sixers trailed the Indiana Pacers midway through the fourth quarter on Jan. 31. The Sixers, who were without Embiid, then closed out the game on a 25-6 run, boosting their confidence with a 119-110 victory.

Rivers’ biggest attribute has been playing to the strength of his players. He directs the ball where players can be productive. He also has good combinations on the floor that complement his stars.

Last season was an equal-opportunity offense for the Sixers. They just moved the ball and whoever got a shot, shot it.

The Sixers also have better defensive concepts. They’re more coordinated under Dan Burke, whom Rivers hired to run his defense.

Rivers has also improved the Sixers’ mental approach, which has helped them withstand rough patches and find ways to win games that in past seasons they would have lost.

“For us, Doc is on us mentally before games,” Harris said. “He’s always getting on guys, asking them, are they ready? So that’s the mental edge that he wants our team to have and that focus that we have.

“Every single night. We have a formula for success, and we got to stay with it.”