Inside Sixers: Jaden Springer’s Charlotte homecoming, another Danny Green reunion and more from a 3-0 road trip

INDIANAPOLIS — As a celebratory visitors’ locker room inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse began to clear out late Saturday, Doc Rivers said it felt like the 76ers were about to head to Game 4 of an eight-game road trip.

Technically, the surging Sixers next host the Chicago Bulls on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. But with an overnight arrival in Philly as Saturday turned into Sunday, before a Tuesday afternoon departure for four more road games, it won’t exactly feel like a home stint.

“Our crowd will give us support, and that will be the reason we know that we’re at home,” Rivers said following his team’s 141-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers. “We’re literally coming home to do laundry … for those guys that do laundry.”

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Perhaps that’s a good thing for the Sixers, given the way they have rolled through this road-heavy stretch run. They are 7-1 away from home in March, including victories over the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Miami Heat, along with two back-to-back sweeps while shorthanded. Overall, the Sixers have won eight games in a row to ascend into second place in the Eastern Conference standings, leading the Boston Celtics by a game in the loss column entering Sunday.

“We’re resilient,” said third-year guard Tyrese Maxey, who totaled 31 points, seven assists, and no turnovers against the Pacers.

Here are some behind-the-scenes moments that peppered the week.

As Joel Embiid stepped to center court for Wednesday’s tipoff in Cleveland, he felt a bump on his back. It was Danny Green, the former Sixer and veteran wing who joined the Cavaliers off the buyout market last month.

Green coincidentally made his Cavaliers debut on Feb. 15 in Philly, both teams’ final game before the All-Star break. His minutes have been spotty since then, and he did not play in Wednesday’s rematch. He is still less than a year removed from a gruesome knee injury, which required surgery to repair two torn ligaments, sustained during last spring’s Sixers playoff series against the Heat.

Yet Green’s leadership for an up-and-coming Cleveland team pushing toward its first playoff run together was still visible from high above the home bench. The three-time NBA champion pulled standout big man Evan Mobley aside for a conversation during a first-half timeout. Green also periodically stood up from his seat to get the attention of teammates on the floor.

That’s nothing new, Rivers reminded.

“He talks … all the time,” Rivers said. “And I mean that in a very positive way. But he does. He shares. There’s guys that just aren’t that guy. They just don’t share. They just do. Danny does share experiences, and they’re good ones.

“That’s a valuable thing for [the Cavaliers]. As good as they are, they’re still really young, and adding a vet like Danny was a good move for them.”

Second-year guard Jaden Springer has spent much of his time with the Sixers at home games and practices, when he can utilize the easy drive between Philly and Wilmington for stints with the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats.

Yet he joined this recent road trip in order to visit Charlotte, his hometown. And the Sixers’ rout meant he got to play in front of friends and family on the Spectrum Center court for the first time as an NBA player. He finished with two points, one assist, and one steal in seven minutes. Though Springer is not yet ready to contribute to a Sixers team vying for an NBA championship, Rivers continues to commend his tenacious on-ball defense and ability to finish at the basket.

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“It was a great experience,” Springer said just before meeting those loved ones in the stands. “Back home, got to be able to touch the court and get some good minutes at the end of the game, it was great.”

Springer said he does not have a favorite basketball memory inside the Spectrum Center, because he mostly watched games on television while growing up.

“When they were the Bobcats, though,” Springer clarified.

Spoken like a guy born in 2002.

When Shake Milton lofted the ball to Paul Reed for the one-handed alley-oop dunk as the Sixers pulled away from the Pacers, the connection was more than fitting.

About an hour before tipoff, Reed politely asked to interrupt a conversation so he could sit next to Milton at his locker. As they both dipped chicken quesadillas in hot sauce for pregame fuel, Milton and Reed discussed their two-man pick-and-roll attack — and how Reed could free up Milton to get downhill with the ball in his hands.

No need to set that up when, after Milton swiped a late steal, both players got into the open court for the high-flying finish. But they broke into an elaborate handshake while walking back to the bench after Pacers coach Rick Carlisle called timeout.

* The Sixers, like many who follow Philly sports, felt the emotional whiplash of Eagles star Darius Slay’s contract saga in real time. His farewell began trickling through Sixers players and staffers as they wrapped shootaround in Cleveland, and the news he would return (on a restructured deal) after all popped in the postgame locker room following their victory.

* Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said this while discussing Embiid and his frontcourt duo of Mobley and Jarrett Allen: “I’m a big fan of big people.”

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* “Ready for their pace,” with two underlines under each word, was written on a white board inside the Sixers’ locker room in Indianapolis. That, of course, was tied to the 143 points (including 15 in transition) the Sixers had surrendered in their March 6 win over the Pacers. They then allowed 21 in transition during Saturday’s win, but, per Embiid’s evaluation, “the amount of points that we gave up is kind of deceiving. I thought we were pretty good defensively. They’re so fast to the point that they’re going to score a lot.”

* The last people on the Sixers’ end of the court for pregame warm-ups in Indianapolis? Executive vice president of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie’s children. Dinwiddie is an Indianapolis native and former longtime Pacers executive.

* During a trip with three games in four nights, the Sixers’ only off day was in Charlotte on Thursday. Rivers naturally spent it playing golf — with Dell Curry. “It was a long day,” Rivers said. “He plays five and six days a week. I play four or five times during the season, so let’s just start right there. And he doesn’t give extra strokes.”