While the Sixers are especially snakebit, this week underscored COVID-19′s league-wide impact

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 76ers and the NBA are receiving reminders that the coronavirus pandemic is not over.

The Sixers posted a 127-124 overtime victory Monday night over a Charlotte Hornets squad that was minus three key starters and two rotation players because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

It marked the second game that guards LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier, center Mason Plumlee, and reserve forward Jalen McDaniels missed after testing positive on Saturday. Meanwhile, reserve point guard Ish Smith, a former Sixer, missed his first game while in protocols. They will be sidelined at least 10 days or have to get two negative tests within 24 hours in order to return.

The Sixers know what that’s like, with members of their roster having missed a combined 27 games this season with positive COVID-19 tests — and even that number is a bit misleading.

Tobias Harris missed Friday’s 98-96 victory in Atlanta with lingering effects of COVID. Following that game, coach Doc Rivers said Harris was dealing with the flu. However, the starting power forward tested negative for the flu. The belief is the 104-degree temperature, sinus, and upper respiratory infections he started experiencing shortly after Wednesday night’s 88-87 loss in Boston were the spin-off of his previous COVID diagnosis. His symptoms didn’t ease up until Sunday morning.

Harris finished with 21 points on 7-for-18 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in a team-high 40 minutes, 50 seconds in Monday’s victory over the Hornets (14-12). He was game-best plus-13 for the Sixers (13-11), winners of two straight games.

“Obviously, being in the bed the last couple of days, I still have symptoms for my whatever we want to call it at this point,” Harris said. “But I was just trying to work my way out there and see how I was going to feel out there.”

Aside from feeling a little fatigued, he felt good after getting through the first four minutes.

Harris, a well-conditioned athlete, still has moments when he’s having a tough time catching his breath.

» READ MORE: How good can this Sixers group be? Its ceiling remains hard to grasp at the moment | Keith Pompey

But this is nothing new for the Sixers.

Seth Curry missed six games last season after testing positive for COVID in January. He dealt with the aftereffects for the rest of the season.

“This is not like an advantage or disadvantage,” Curry said following Monday’s shootaround at the Spectrum Center. “Everybody is going through it throughout the league. It’s not like we’re the only [team] that’s going through it.”

The Chicago Bulls had three players — DeMar DeRozan, Coby White and Javonte Green — sidelined for Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets due to being in protocols. Last week, Nuggets guard Austin Rivers, the son of the Sixers’ coach, entered protocols. And Indiana Pacers guard Justin Holiday also tested positive last week. These are just some of the teams impacted.

The Hornets dealt with COVID the previous two seasons. As a result, Hornets coach James Borrego said his squad is taking a next-man-up approach to games.

“We’ll get those players back,” Borrego said. “But this is not going to define our season right here. It’s only going to make us better down the road.

“So we move forward. ... That’s the bottom line.”

Curry acknowledged that the Sixers’ combined 27 missed games due to COVID are currently the most in the league. But he thinks other teams will have a similar experience as the season goes along.

“Everybody is going to feel it in some sense,” he said. “It’s like a sprained ankle, honestly. You got to deal with it.”

Joel Embiid’s nine games missed due to COVID-19 were the most on the team. Backup swingman Matisse Thybulle was sidelined seven games. Reserve guard Isaiah Joe missed five games. And Harris was out six games.

Harris, Embiid, and Thybulle all looked good in their first games back, only to appear fatigued or playing subpar basketball in following games.

The aftereffects of COVID have hit Harris the hardest and might linger for while.

The 11th-year veteran practiced with the team Sunday, but he wasn’t close to his normal self, lacking stamina and displaying generally poor health. He even needed to catch his breath for a few seconds before resuming a post-practice shooting drill.

“When I had the fever, I thought about for sure this is an anomaly,” Harris said. “I haven’t been sick in a long time. Then I get COVID, then get back-to-back fevers [this weekend], it’s tough for sure. Even now, I still have a cough. I still have a runny nose.”

After testing negative for the flu, Harris believed he was experiencing his second bout with COVID in 32 days.

“It’s the same symptom,” he said. “But according to the CDC, you can’t get COVID if you had it in less than 90 days. So they said, ‘You may just have a sinus infection.’ But it’s beyond my understanding. So I just try to get as healthy as I can and healthy [enough] to play and get myself back out there.”

But at this point, Harris said it’s best to approach things day by day.

That’s because he knows there could be days where he experiences illness or fatigue no matter how much he rests up.

Harris did ask teammates Curry and Danny Green about how they dealt with their post-COVID experiences. Green tested positive two seasons ago as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. But as he pointed out, COVID impacts everyone differently. So it’s really hard to learn from their experiences.

“And I think when I first got out on the court and playing, I was fine,” Harris said. “And then three days ago, it just shocked me, man.”

But the Sixers could have a tough time coping if Harris, Embiid, and Thybulle all experience aftereffects during the same time. They were 4-2 before Harris became the first player to test positive on Nov. 1. The Sixers went on win four consecutive games. But they jump-started what turned out to be a five-game skid when all three of them were out against the New York Knicks on Nov. 8.

Harris returned two games later, finishing with 19 points in a loss to the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 11. Then he produced with a season-high 32 in the next game, a loss at the Indiana Pacers. Then he went on to miss games at the Sacramento Kings (Nov. 22) and Golden State Warriors (Nov. 24) with a strained left hip before being sidelined again on Friday.

» READ MORE: Tyrese Maxey emerged as COVID-19 ravaged the Sixers. Now he’s readjusting to life with Joel Embiid.

Embiid finished with a season-high 42 points on 12-for-23 shooting in his first game back, a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 27. However, he went on to shoot a combined 7-for-33 (21.2%) while looking out of sorts in the next two games.

But now the Hornets are the team undermanned due to COVID.

“I empathize with anybody,” Rivers said. “But it’s still a competition when the game starts. As we’ve proven, you can win games with guys out.”

Rivers, however, is concerned about how COVID will affect his players. He doesn’t know what to do other than tell them to be safe and smart.

“You just see it all over,” Rivers said. “Football players are getting it. Everyone is getting it. So it’s got to be a concern.”