Inside Sixers: Joel Embiid’s ‘Wally Pipp’ moment, Doc Rivers’ Marquette return and more

INDIANAPOLIS — While reporters surrounded Tyrese Maxey late Saturday after the 76ers win over the Milwaukee Bucks, James Harden attempted to slither past the crowd’s turned backs and out of the visitors’ locker room.

“I thought I got away,” Harden quipped when he was eventually followed by media members out the door and into the hallway.

Not after his fourth-quarter explosion, which propelled the 76ers to a signature 133-130 comeback victory to snap Milwaukee’s 16-game winning streak, was he escaping easily. Harden scored 19 of his 38 points and totaled four of his 10 assists during that final period, picking apart what had been the NBA’s most efficient defense during his team’s 48-point quarter.

“That’s what I do,” Harden said. “I’m very comfortable in those situations, whether it’s playmaking, whether it’s scoring.”

The Sixers are 2-1 more than halfway through this grueling stretch of five road games in seven nights, with impressive victories over the Miami Heat and Bucks sandwiching a poor defensive effort in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks on the second leg of a back-to-back.

» READ MORE: Sixers vs. Bucks takeaways: Joel Embiid and James Harden make history, Georges Niang overcomes slump

The Sixers are 3-3 since the All-Star break while facing a challenging schedule that will only persist through the end of the regular season. They are in the midst of playing 12 of 15 games away from home, which continues with a Monday, Tuesday back-to-back at the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

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

This handwritten message was waiting on the seat at Joel Embiid’s locker following Wednesday’s win in Miami: “Look up (Google it) ‘Wally Pipp.’”

That’s a common sports reference for those of a certain generation. Pipp, a former New York Yankees slugger, lost his starting job after sitting out with a headache to Lou Gehrig. Gehrig went on to play 2,130 consecutive games and become one of the greatest players in baseball history.

The Sixers’ mysterious note writer jokingly applied Pipp’s misfortune to what had just unfolded against the Heat. Embiid, an MVP contender, rested his sore left foot that he has mostly been playing through for weeks. That paved the way for Paul Reed to put together arguably his best performance of the season, grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds and scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

The problem: Embiid said he never saw the note, indicating he must have left the locker room before it was dropped off. And when asked, neither Embiid nor Reed recognized Pipp’s name. That is a reminder that both players are in their 20s, and perhaps not experts on 1920s baseball.

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Tyrese Maxey has been on a tear, averaging 26.3 points on 57.6% shooting and 54.2% from three-point range during his past four games. That partially coincides with his return to the starting lineup.

Yet Maxey is still the subject of direct coaching, which was particularly visible from the courtside press seats at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. Early in the third quarter, as the Sixers rapidly fell into a 20-point hole, an irate Doc Rivers screamed at Maxey to “Wake up!” before pulling him aside during the next stoppage in play.

“If you come out of a timeout and don’t run a play,” Rivers said after the game, “it doesn’t matter who it is: You’re going to hear it. What I’m trying to get our guys to understand, in single-possession games, one messed up ATO [after timeout play] can be the difference in winning and losing a game.

“It’s the best time you’re going to have. You get to set up a play, and you get to execute a play. We have to, and we have to all know where we’re at. And that’s just focus.”

Maxey responded with 17 fourth-quarter points, including 10 in less than three minutes to slash a 19-point deficit to begin the period to four, before the Mavericks re-extended their advantage.

“Coach Doc said he’s going to give us about three minutes to make it a game, and that’s what we did,” Maxey said. “James [Harden] said, ‘Make them call the first timeout. Make them call the second one,’ and then we had a ballgame.”

That relentless coaching style was also a topic following the Sixers’ win in Miami, when Reed (as usual) was in constant conversation with teammates and coaches.

“If they’re not talking to us and not coaching us hard, I feel like that would be a problem,” Reed said. “But since they’re coaching us hard and making sure that we’re getting better, doing what we’ve got to do for the team, I think it’s a good sign.”

As a midseason acquisition, Jalen McDaniels had limited numbers to choose from upon joining the Sixers.

Making things even tougher: His preferred No. 6 has long been unavailable. That belonged to Hall of Famer Julius Erving, and is retired by the organization.

Five was originally McDaniels’ favorite number, and what he wore as a college player at San Diego State. But when he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, veteran Nicolas Batum already wore that number. So McDaniels switched to No. 6, hoping that could become the singular digit he wore throughout his career.

Now, he has bumped up to the next-highest number.

“Lucky number 7,” McDaniels said. “That’s all I’ve been thinking.”

McDaniels generated his own good fortune down the stretch of the win against the Bucks, when injuries to starters Tobias Harris and P.J. Tucker forced him onto the floor. He played the entire frame and totaled five points and two rebounds, including three clutch free throws after being fouled outside the arc and a put-back dunk before Harden’s and Embiid’s big three-pointers.

“I was just trying to crash [for rebounds] all night,” McDaniels said. “But some guys were there to [stop] me, so I couldn’t even make it to the basket, or the ball wouldn’t go my way. So I just kept going and got one at the key part of the game, so that was pretty dope.”

» READ MORE: Jalen McDaniels finding other ways to contribute for Sixers as his playmaking takes back seat

As the Sixers wrapped Saturday morning’s shootaround in Milwaukee, it was easy to immediately notice a giant picture of Rivers with the Larry O’Brien NBA championship trophy on the gym’s corner wall.

They were on campus at Marquette University, where Rivers starred from 1980-83. A plaque featuring a college-aged Rivers also was just outside the practice-gym doors, allowing players to “make fun” of him, the coach said. Rivers’ retired jersey is also in the rafters at Fiserv Forum, where the Golden Eagles play home games.

“You don’t ever get a real chance to kind of look back on stuff like that,” Rivers said of his college years. “But days like this, it’s kind of nice.”

Rivers said he spent much of Friday night with Marquette coach Shaka Smart, who then stuck around to watch Sixers-Bucks following Marquette’s 96-94 Saturday afternoon win over St. John’s in the same building. Rivers said he has watched more Marquette games this season than in the past, because Big East conference games are more readily available on television in Philly.

“Every coach in the NBA wants that exact same style, where that ball’s flying around,” Rivers said of the Golden Eagles, who are ranked sixth in the country in both major polls and won the conference regular-season title.

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