Weary Sixers face a well-rested Bucks team tonight in Milwaukee
The Sixers are playing the second game of a back-to-back, while Milwaukee has been idle since losing at home on Monday to Phoenix.
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The NBA schedule can seem unfair and, at times, one-sided, but the 76ers realize nobody is going to feel sorry for them as they visit the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at 7 p.m.
The Sixers (39-19) will be playing the second game of a back-to-back after Wednesday’s 116-113 home loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee (35-22) hasn’t played since losing at home on Monday night, 128-127 in overtime, to the same Phoenix team.
The schedule is another difficulty the banged-up Sixers have to endure. They faced the Suns without three starters. Tobias Harris missed his third straight game with right knee soreness, Ben Simmons (illness) missed his second consecutive game, and Seth Curry (left hip flexor recovery) was also sidelined.
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Regardless of the injury situation, the Sixers now have to face a well-rested Bucks team twice in a three-day span in Milwaukee. They also play Saturday afternoon at the Fiserv Forum.
The Bucks are 3½ games behind the first-place Sixers in the Eastern Conference and realistically would have to sweep the two games to get back in the race.
“One of the coaches on Phoenix walked up to me before the game and said, ‘You guys play us and then have Milwaukee and they haven’t played since us. That’s insane,’ ” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said after Wednesday’s loss to the Suns.
Still, Rivers understands this is part of this year’s condensed NBA schedule, in which the Sixers are playing their 36 second-half games in 67 days.
“We’re going to rest all day and hopefully we’ll be ready for [Thursday],” Rivers said. “And then after that we get a day off, then we play an afternoon game.”
The Sixers hold a half-game lead in the Eastern Conference and the tiebreaker over the Brooklyn Nets, who have 13 remaining games. Rivers says the schedule won’t be used as an excuse.
“Clearly it’s a disadvantage, but what are you going to do?,” said Rivers, whose team has lost two in a row at home for the first time this season, including Monday’s 107-96 defeat to Golden State. “We’re going to show up and try to win them both.”
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Immediately after Wednesday’s game, Rivers wasn’t ready to say who would be available Thursday, but Joel Embiid, who had 38 points and 17 rebounds and just missed sending the game into overtime with an incredible heave from behind the opposite free-throw line against Phoenix, said he was going to play.
But would playing Embiid be the best situation?
Embiid said afterward that he wasn’t supposed to play against Phoenix since he was a little banged up. He also was holding his left knee after leaving the game late in the third quarter, but he was able to return. Embiid has played in nine games, including eight in a row, since missing 10 with a left knee bone bruise.
“I can’t rest, even if I am hurt,” Embiid had said.
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As big a game as this is, the Sixers’ No. 1 priority is to be healthy entering the postseason.
The Bucks won the only meeting this year, 109-105 in overtime on March 17. That was their fifth win of an eight-game winning streak.
Since that streak ended, the Bucks are 6-8, with consecutive home losses to Memphis and Phoenix.
Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has played three straight games after missing six due to a left knee injury. Milwaukee was 3-3 in those six games.
In the earlier win over the Sixers, Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 15 rebounds, but six turnovers. Antetokounmpo didn’t make any fans in Philadelphia after making a key shot in overtime and then running to the Sixers’ end of the court and taking a seat on the floor before a timeout. It was a clear case of taunting.
Embiid didn’t play in that game, part of the stretch of 10 he missed.
After the Sixers play two in Milwaukee, the schedule is favorable, with just three of the final 12 games against teams with winning records.
UPDATE: In his pregame press meeting, Rivers said Embiid is playing, but Simmons is out. Rivers said he is is counting on Harris and Curry to play. Furkan Korkmaz (right ankle sprain) is questionable.