Nick Nurse’s new challenge: How the Sixers coach manages a star-laden roster and its many injuries

After Caleb Martin secured a game-clinching rebound off Tyrese Haliburton’s missed free throw, Nick Nurse pumped his fist from the 76ers’ bench in celebration and, possibly, relief.

It ended a Sunday afternoon when the coach had received a technical foul for arguing with officials; and when his team was on the wrong end of a wild, send-it-to-overtime Haliburton three-pointer; and when the Sixers nearly blew the game when Martin inexplicably fouled with his team up two points in the waning seconds. But, after two rough losses to open a crucial 2024-25 season, the Sixers had squeaked out their first victory, 118-114, over the Indiana Pacers.

Still, it has not been the anticipated start for the Sixers following a much-ballyhooed offseason and a training camp when Nurse said his veteran-laden team was further along in the execution category than last year’s group. Injuries — or injury management — for All-Stars Joel Embiid and Paul George, plus a roster with eight new players, are at the core of the blame. And for a coach with an established reputation for experimentation and creativity, Nurse already must find immediate solutions on the fly and begin to build an identity that will carry the Sixers into a spring with championship aspirations.

“I’ve got to learn what’s going on with this team,” Nurse said in Indianapolis after the game. “… I’m trying to learn what looks good and what doesn’t.”

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When asked how last week’s season opener felt different from his first with the Sixers, Nurse referenced how, unlike last year, the hovering James Harden trade-demand saga did not exist. In the days leading up to Game 1, returning players such as All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey and starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr. mentioned feeling a stronger foundation with this second-year staff, from understanding logistics such as practice routines to the fact that, schematically, Nurse will “do some different things sometimes,” Maxey said.

Yet “the plan” for Embiid’s playing — and resting — schedule dominated questions posed to Nurse in the run-up to the opener after the team revealed the former MVP would not play in at least the regular season’s first three games. George is still recovering from a bone bruise in his knee suffered in an Oct. 14 preseason game at the Atlanta Hawks. The result: The Milwaukee Bucks blew out the Sixers on opening night, before the tanking — and shorthanded — Toronto Raptors topped the Sixers in a game in which Nurse described the execution on offense as “really poor” and the defense as “average, at best.”

Nurse’s quest to maximize this roster began months ago, after the Sixers lost in the first round of the 2024 playoffs and entered the offseason with 10 free agents and the salary-cap space to sign a max-contract player, who became George.

The coach acknowledged that it was challenging to fully digest and debrief during those first few weeks, given the immense personnel uncertainty. But Nurse was thrilled about the “blank slate” surrounding the Embiid-Maxey tandem, even if he did not get a full season to evaluate that because Embiid missed two months following knee surgery. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey said Nurse was with the front office “the whole way” during free agency, a collaboration the executive called “very valuable.”

“He was anxious to see how to fill out the roster,” Morey said from training camp earlier this month. “It’s hard for [the front office], but I think it’s even harder for a coach to think through which players will fit, unless you have a few.”

Added Nurse: “You kind of think, ‘Listen, if we can get some toughness, some IQ, some shooting to put around those guys [Embiid and Maxey], you‘ve got yourself a really good place to start from.’”

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Once the roster was mostly assembled, Nurse then retreated to his office to devour film on each newcomer. He focused on elements such as where on the floor each player got his most effective shots or the types of actions he runs during plays. He noted even more minute details, such as how the players matched up against certain defenders, how they guarded an opponent, or how they fared when a player posted them up. He also searched for glimpses of skills “that maybe people don’t realize they can do.”

“All the different scenarios,” Nurse said earlier this month, “just to gather as many thoughts of what can go into the arsenal that we can use them for. … This is me, kind of holed up on my own, processing all that stuff.”

Conceptually, Nurse entered training camp with a goal of playing at a faster pace, thanks to “a fleet” of options including the blazing Maxey and wings George and Martin, who can bring the ball up following a rebound. He also wanted to improve rebounding, after ranking 20th in the NBA in that category last season (43 per game) and be even more versatile defensively, building on hallmarks such as ball pressure and forcing turnovers.

And, in Maxey’s words, “just playing hard as hell, man.”

To drive those emphases home throughout their stay in the Bahamas for training camp, staffers wore hoodies featuring the phrase “The ball wins.” With so many new players, though, Nurse acknowledged needing to go back to basic principles as the team progressed from station drills to five-on-five scrimmaging. But by the end of the week, the coach felt his team was “far ahead” of last year’s camp, in terms of execution in full-contact situational work.

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“I can’t really put a finger on why,” Nurse said. “… Maybe it’s just the depth of the talent in the group.”

The staff also purposefully let “funky” lineups roll during that first week, to expose players to executing different roles on specific plays “because you never know what it could do.” That also was a first step in identifying players who can assume duties such as inbounding the ball in crunch time, which went to former Sixers forward Nico Batum last season but veteran point guard Kyle Lowry took on in a crucial overtime play at Indiana.

“I can move the pieces a lot,” Nurse said. “And I guess that … it’s not complicated. It’s a little time-consuming. I think it’s a little experimental. Take a little time to figure out exactly what maybe is the best option, and then the next-best.

“Or maybe it’s a thing where we can move positions and make it a little harder to scout.”

That coach-player adaptation goes both ways, for veterans and rookies.

Eric Gordon, a 35-year-old sharpshooter, described Nurse’s high-intensity training-camp sessions as “different than what I’ve seen.” Reserve big man Guerschon Yabusele, who had spent recent seasons playing for European power Real Madrid, noted that Nurse “never screams. He just talks. He makes sure everybody understands and really is focused on what he’s saying.”

Martin, meanwhile, can understand why Nurse and Lowry — who played for the coach in Toronto and also was Martin’s teammate with the Miami Heat — collaborate so well. And rookie guard Jared McCain highlighted a practice when Nurse reran a play to allow him to hit a game-winning shot, along with the coach’s overall attention to detail.

“He has this real cool demeanor,” McCain said. “It’s been cool to pick his brain about just how he sees the game. When I’m watching when we’re just doing something regular, he just stops all practice to pick on one thing. It’s crazy to see how he sees that one specific thing.”

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Nurse, meanwhile, also is working to cultivate those relationship touchpoints. Those come through “high-level” conversations about leadership and organization with Maxey before and after practices. Or while pulling veteran guard Reggie Jackson from his locker stall before a preseason game at Boston. Or while sitting courtside with Martin before a shootaround in Atlanta, a game in which the wing moved from starter to reserve.

On the court, Nurse is still trying to implement Embiid and George, even while they’re sidelined. The coach said during the preseason that practices have routinely begun with drilling “all the Joel actions,” even when Embiid was not traveling with the team, “because we have other guys that just need to learn the spacing and the cutting and all that kind of rhythm.” During camp, Nurse also highlighted a package in which George initiates the offense, allowing Maxey to play off the ball.

“When you have more choices, a bigger menu,” Nurse said, “you’re going to have different variety to pick from.”

That has been absent during the regular season, yielding largely clunky play on that end of the floor. Nurse already has tinkered with the starting lineup again — he moved Martin and Lowry into that first group — and some unplanned rotations because of foul trouble. Miscues such as errant passes, which can be common with a new-look team early in the season, also have popped up.

By last Sunday’s win at Indiana, Nurse’s evaluation of the offense had been elevated to “much better,” and the defense to “really good, at times.”

Yet the coach still has much to figure out — while patching for the short-term and building a long-term identity — as Year 2 with the Sixers begins.