With full roster finally available, Nick Nurse still experimenting with Sixers’ rotation

Joel Embiid walked into Nick Nurse’s office following the 76ers’ squeaker over the Washington Wizards Wednesday night, telling his coach that “there were so many stretches that game [that] it felt like we hadn’t been together at all.”

The NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player has a point. Even though the Sixers are now 21 games into the regular season — including Friday’s 125-114 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks to lift their record to 14-7 — their rotation is still in flux. They spent much of the past month getting Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, and KJ Martin — who were all acquired in the James Harden trade with the Los Angeles Clippers — acclimated on the fly. Shortly after that deal, the Sixers lost spark-plug newcomer Kelly Oubre Jr. to a fractured rib for 11 games.

Now, all of those players are available. It’s up to Nurse to identify the best lineup combinations and substitution patterns — and for the players on the deep roster to remain patient (and prepared) throughout that process.

“It’s a tough job,” Morris said earlier this week. “It’s a good thing to have a different variety of players and guys that bring different things. But at the same time, for players, it can get frustrating. Because everybody wants to play and everybody works hard. It will definitely be interesting.

“[Nurse has] got some tough decisions to make. Whoever gets out there, I just think, regardless of what direction he goes, it still should be a good one.”

Nurse spent Friday’s pregame news conference listing eight players — starters Embiid, Batum, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, and De’Anthony Melton, and reserves Oubre, Paul Reed, and Patrick Beverley — who had locked in a rotation spot. The coach added that he would “for sure” go 10 deep for the time being, meaning a slew of contenders will be vying for two spots.

A couple of hours later, those parameters had already changed. Nurse went with a nine-player rotation in the first half against the Hawks, which included a disastrous second quarter when the Sixers surrendered 45 points to help the Hawks flip a double-digit deficit into a six-point advantage.

Then, little-used center Mo Bamba became the surprising 10th player to enter the mix at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when Embiid got his customary rest before the stretch run.

» READ MORE: Sixers coach Nick Nurse believes Tobias Harris is ‘too good’ to stress over recent struggles

Nurse said he chose Bamba over Reed to present more rim protection, after the Hawks “just put their head down and went to the front of the rim — boom, boom, boom — about six straight times” in the second quarter. That the Hawks also had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half also gave Bamba a hunch that he might get the call in the fourth, leaving the bench during the quarter break to do some agility shuffles in the tunnel. He finished with three rebounds in five minutes, and missed a tip-in that Nurse said could have elevated an admirable stretch into a “really big game.”

“I give him a lot of credit,” Nurse said of Bamba. “He’s really stayed positive and he’s really stayed ready and he’s really worked hard. And that’s not that easy to come in — in kind of funky, tough game — and kind of produce pretty good there.”

Nurse also went with Morris (three points, three rebounds in 16 minutes) over Covington on Friday while sorting through a crowded wing group, which also includes Danuel House Jr., Jaden Springer, and Furkan Korkmaz. In explaining Friday’s decision, Nurse highlighted Morris’ experience, physicality, and confidence shooting three-pointers.

Additionally, Oubre (11 points, three rebounds, two steals) closed the game over Batum. When asked before the game if Batum over Oubre as one of the Sixers’ starting forwards had been finalized, Nurse said, “I wouldn’t put it in concrete, and I wouldn’t put it as fluid, either. Somewhere in between those two. There still could be some movement there.”

After the game, Nurse was asked about his decision to close with Oubre.

“He just looked explosive to me,” Nurse added. “He was up the floor fast. He was at the rim for some cuts. He was on the glass. He was getting over screens. He was refusing to get screened, and you’ve got to throw your body into people to do that.

“So I think [I’m] pretty happy with where he is — considering how long he’s been out — just with his effort and conditioning. And he made some plays.”

Maxey — who spearheaded that initial fourth-quarter group while scoring 16 points in the frame — credited the coaching staff with preparing players to take the floor with any combination of teammates. The fourth-year guard described portions of practice when he and Embiid go to opposite ends of the court and Nurse “will send guys all over the place. It’s not just two or three groups. He’ll mix and match.” Those team sessions also include a lot of scrimmaging, Nurse said, allowing the staff to evaluate based on full-contact work.

“Everybody knows what we’re trying to do,” Maxey said. “Everybody knows what the end goal is. And everybody knows what we’re doing offensively and defensively.”

Added Bamba: “It’s super competitive. … We’re trying to win the game. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win minutes, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

» READ MORE: Sixers win back-and-forth affair against Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks

Still, Embiid and his coach have clocked the examples of relative newness, even 21 games into the season. The lapses in defensive communication. When offensive spacing turns clogged. The cohesion that still needs to be organically forged while playing against an opponent.

So even though the personnel groupings that Nurse landed on for Friday’s fourth quarter helped push the Sixers to retake control, his lineup experimentation is likely to continue.

That’s why Nurse has emphasized a stay-ready theme with each member of his roster that is now deep and available.

“There’s 12 [or] 13 guys that could hit the floor any night,” he said.