Sixers ‘figuring out who we are’ as Joel Embiid and Paul George remain out

INDIANAPOLIS — Playing without Joel Embiid and Paul George puts things in perspective for the 76ers.

They realize everything doesn’t have to come together all at once, especially with eight new players on the roster.

“We’ve got a lot of pulling it together, figuring out who we are and all that kind of stuff,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I know everybody wants to win yesterday, right? But understand, it’s not that easy to do.

“I’ve got to learn them and they’ve got to learn me. We’ve got to figure out who works well together. There’s still a lot of that going on even besides the Joel and Paul stuff.”

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Embiid and George will miss their third game to start the season when the Sixers (0-2) face the Indiana Pacers on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Embiid is out due to manage a left knee injury, while George is dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee. The two perennial All-Stars have accompanied the Sixers on the road. The team says they’re continuing to progress in their return-to-play workouts, but they have not participated in five-on-five scrimmages. The Sixers want them to do that before being cleared to play.

As a result, Nurse had to tone down his enthusiasm and eagerness to see how the Sixers look when the Big Three of Embiid, George, and Tyrese Maxey all play.

“You get enough experience over the few years of not having guys,” Nurse said. “I always try to make my first response about getting really excited about the other guys. See if we can grow them, and maybe they can help us when it does kind of come back together.

“So I’m doing a lot of that right now.”

Nurse has been at the forefront of tactical creativity throughout his coaching career. He was asked what he thinks will be the next tactical or stylistic evolution of the game, and Nurse mentioned the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics.

“Obviously, they’re just strolling along, 16-3 in the playoffs,” Nurse said. “They put a team out there [with a starting lineup] of 6-5 and above. And every guy, just spread the floor and give it to a guy who can play one-on-one, and can go and score it. And if you bring somebody, they are going to fire somebody, maybe a high, high, high percentage three-point shooter.

“They’re all two-way players as well. It’s kind of positionless even though there’s a little bit of variance in the heights of some of those guys. But it’s positionless.”

The Celtics’ starting lineup consists of All-Stars Jaylen Brown (6-foot-6), Jayson Tatum (6-8), Al Horford (6-9), Jrue Holiday (6-4), and Derrick White (6-5). Injured standout Kristaps Porzingis (7-3) usually starts at center in place of Horford.

“If you are not going to match the three-balls that they make by making enough of your own,” Nurse said, “the scoreboard is going to start moving quickly in the wrong direction. So I think [we’re] trying to figure out how to get those kind of players or create those kind of players or figure out some kind of strategy to limit them from taking less than 60 threes a game.”

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The Celtics (3-0) lead the NBA with 154 attempted three-pointers. They are also the league leaders in made three-pointers (68) and three-point percentage (.442).

The Sixers will return to the Wells Fargo Center this week, where they’ll have just two games over the next seven days. They’ll entertain the Detroit Pistons, featuring former Sixers Tobias Harris and Paul Reed, on Wednesday night and the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.