Inside Sixers: Tyrese Maxey’s secret snack, remembering Willis Reed and more from the road

PHOENIX — In the far corner of the Footprint Center’s visitors’ locker room, Joel Embiid quietly soaked both feet in an ice bucket.

For the second consecutive night, the superstar big man described his calf as feeling “OK.” But after a brilliant 46-point effort in a Friday loss at Golden State, things appeared much more challenging for Embiid against the Suns. He manufactured 28 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists while combating the Suns’ variety of defensive traps, but he (and everybody besides Tyrese Maxey) struggled to make shots on a night coach Doc Rivers was again unsatisfied with the Sixers’ ball movement in a 125-105 defeat.

“Can’t be perfect every night,” Embiid said. “Body is sometimes not going to feel good, so just got to push as much as you can and next time try to be better.”

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That self-evaluation also applies to Embiid’s team. He acknowledged the Sixers are finally feeling some fatigue at the end of this taxing stretch of 12 of 15 games played on the road. Rivers and the Sixers’ medical staff also are making the conscious choice to sit players with minor injuries, including NBA assist leader James Harden, who has missed the past three games with Achilles soreness.

But Embiid — who is vying for MVP and a second consecutive scoring title — powered through on the second night of a back-to-back set, after entering Saturday listed as questionable to play. Now looming is a highly anticipated rematch at the Denver Nuggets, which could help determine who wins that league’s most prestigious individual award after Embiid dropped 47 points, 18 rebounds, and the game-clinching bucket over two-time winner Nikola Jokic nearly two months ago.

“A lot of guys have been in and out of the lineup,” Embiid said. “We’ve just got to keep finding ways to try to win every single night. It’s been tough [this month], but that’s where you’ve got to find ways to win and you’ve got to dig deeper.”

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

Popcorn is Maxey’s go-to pregame and postgame snack. But that love was on another level following Wednesday’s rout of the Chicago Bulls, when a bag about the size of a white drawstring trash bag was waiting at his locker after he totaled 21 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

This newfound tradition at the United Center began last season, when the Sixers played there the night after Maxey’s 21st birthday and he snagged a giant bag that had been placed in the locker room (and surely designed for more than one human).

Consider it an extravagant continuation of his home routine, when Maxey typically grabs a (normal-sized) popcorn bag when he rolls into the locker room during his pregame routine and is often munching on it after the final buzzer.

How did this become his favorite fuel?

“My mom told me when I was younger that popcorn was good for me,” Maxey said. “Like, good fiber. So that’s kind of in the back of my head when I’m eating it.”

In Phoenix three days later, similar-sized bags were spotted inside the visitors’ locker room. No word if Maxey snatched one before or after his 37-point outburst.

Before Monday’s home tipoff against the Bulls, Patrick Beverley zoomed over to the Sixers’ bench to dap up Rivers.

Beverley played for Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he morphed into a defensive irritant, capable complementary ballhandler, and brash personality. But both men are also products of Chicagoland basketball, meaning Rivers understands why it’s so meaningful for Beverley to have signed with his hometown team off the buyout market.

“Chicago is a unique style of basketball,” Rivers said. “Patrick Beverley shows that every time he walks out on the floor.”

Beverley fouled out of the Bulls’ double-overtime win over the Sixers that night, after going 2 of 10 from the floor for six points, four rebounds, and two assists. He then went scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting but had five rebounds and two assists in Wednesday’s loss.

Eleven is a deceptively popular jersey number in the NBA, worn by current players such as Trae Young, Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan, Brook Lopez, and Mike Conley.

Springer’s choice to wear it comes with some synergy, because the second-year guard initially donned it at an AAU tournament when he was 11 years old.

“That was the first time everybody was talking about me and this and that,” Springer said. “That was the first time I wore it, and I stuck with it ever since.”

Prior to the games in Chicago and San Francisco, the public-address announcer asked for a moment of silence to remember Willis Reed, who died March 21 of heart failure.

The Hall of Famer became a symbol of persevering despite pain — and one of the more recognizable names in sports history — after he played in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals for the New York Knicks despite a severe thigh injury.

But Rivers’ connection to the all-time great is much deeper. Reed was an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks when Rivers came into the NBA in the early 1990s, and became an early mentor.

“As solid of a human being that you could possibly be around,” Rivers said. “High character. Just taught me a lot. I had an edge early on, and having Willis around was very helpful for me as a person. So I will always be thankful [for] that.”

Upon receiving a compliment about the lavender Nike sneakers he wore to Monday’s shootaround, Georges Niang quipped, “LeBron actually sent them to me himself. He said, ‘You’ll probably be able to dunk in these.’” ... Whenever Rivers returns to Chicago, he has two traditions. Visiting his brother, Grady Jr., and eating traditional Chicago delicacies. “Pizza … hot dog … combination. Like clockwork. All healthy Chicago meals.” His one Chicago food hot take? He prefers thin-crust pizza, not deep dish.

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