Sixers don’t expect sympathy as they enter brutal March schedule: ‘They’re not going to change it’

DALLAS — Doc Rivers called the 76ers’ Miami-Dallas back-to-back to open March “absurd,” because of the nearly three-hour, late-night flight between cities followed by an earlier-than-normal 6:30 p.m. local tipoff Thursday at the American Airlines Center.

Still, the coach does not see much use for the “schedule meetings” his support staff wants to hold to discuss their team’s grueling month, featuring 12 of 15 games on the road including four back-to-back sets.

“They’re not going to change it,” Rivers said. “Everyone goes through this. It’s not just us. But this is a brutal stretch down the stretch of the season. You don’t see that often, but it is what it is.”

Yet these first two games — a victory against the Heat without Joel Embiid (foot soreness) one night before Thursday’s loss to the Mavericks, during which the Sixers allowed 25 three-pointers and stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to combine for 82 points — did offer an initial glimpse at how the Sixers could manage their health and on-court performance through this gauntlet. Some of the approach has been in place before the season began, while some must be generated and executed on the fly.

“I just listen [to the experts],” Rivers said. “I figured that out several years ago, and I say, ‘OK.’ I’m serious. I don’t want to have a lot of input into that, because it’s not what I do.”

Rivers said such planning is more difficult now than if this barrage of games had arrived earlier in the season. The 40-22 Sixers are fighting for Eastern Conference playoff positioning, while trying to ramp players up physically and sharpen collective schemes and chemistry. The coach relies on the knowledge of the analytics, sports science, medical and training staffs, while also talking with players and “watching how they’re moving and playing.”

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Some rest games for heavy-minute or older players were scheduled months ago. Yet adaptability is also required. Wednesday in Miami, for instance, was not originally supposed to be an off night for Embiid, who has managed his foot soreness for weeks. But the MVP contender believed it would be beneficial to rest the foot for two consecutive days, because that has typically helped it “[feel] much better.”

The Sixers, meanwhile, did not opt to sit anybody for Thursday’s second night of the back-to-back, a scenario when veterans such as James Harden and P.J. Tucker have been held out in the past. The Sixers play two nights in a row again on Monday at the Indiana Pacers and Tuesday at the Minnesota Timberwolves. Then, from March 15-27, they play seven out of eight games on the road, with two back-to-backs on March 17 and 18 at the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana and on March 24 and 25 at the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns.

Rivers’ ultimate goal, he said, is to “try to keep a semblance of a team” during this stretch.

“You don’t want a night where they’re all out,” Rivers said. " … It’s always in flux.”

Those absences require Rivers to go deeper into his bench and deploy a multitude of lineup combinations, which the coach said his team has “got to be used to … and we’ve got to be OK with it.”

“There’s also guys that’ll play more minutes on one night and less minutes on another night,” Rivers said, “and we have to be able to take that.”

Against the Heat, wing Danuel House Jr. got meaningful action with essentially no notice, he said, while stretch forward Georges Niang did not play because of Miami’s smaller lineup. Niang was back in the rotation against the Mavericks, while guard Shake Milton did not play until the fourth quarter. Backup center Paul Reed recorded a double-double in Miami, but was replaced by Montrezl Harrell in Thursday’s first half against the Mavericks after picking up three quick fouls.

And though Tyrese Maxey moving back into the starting lineup in place of De’Anthony Melton was Thursday’s major personnel shift, the grouping of Maxey and reserves Milton, Niang, Reed, and Jalen McDaniels fueled the Sixers’ 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter that slashed Dallas’ lead to four points.

“We’re going to need each and every last person up on this team, up in this locker room, to get it done,” said House, who had six points in 17 minutes on Wednesday in Miami. “So having each other’s back and being able to swap in and give the other person a rest and carry the momentum is huge for your team.

“It speaks a lot of volume about how guys [are training] and getting ready for the game.”

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When asked about solutions to help ease such schedule quirks or curtail “load management” that can keep star players out of marquee matchups, Rivers said he is not in favor of reducing the 82-game regular season. Adding a week to that footprint to create more days between games is an option, the coach said.

Sixers players are attacking this packed period with varying mentalities. When the schedule was released in the summer, standout forward Tobias Harris said he only looked at the first two months. Tucker said he also must go game by game. But Niang acknowledged he immediately noticed March’s difficulty, and compared it to “that test that your teacher reminds you of in college, and then you’re like, ‘Shoot, I didn’t know that was going to pop up that quick.’ ”

There’s nothing the Sixers can do to change this ongoing cascade of games. Their quest is to manage it.

“At this point, you know what time it is,” Harris said. “It’s towards the end of the season. A lot of teams are ready to pack it up, and a lot of teams are ready to get their stuff together for the playoffs. Every opponent we get is an opportunity, because even the teams that aren’t in it, it’s a lot of guys just playing free and getting after it.

“Every game is an opportunity to learn and get something out of, so I just stay ready for whatever.”

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