How the Sixers have navigated their long break between playoff series: ‘We will take it’

The hollers and cheers could be heard from the opposite side of a wall separating the 76ers’ practice gym from a workroom inside their Camden facility. When asked a few minutes later what had caused such a ruckus behind closed doors, standout forward Tobias Harris replied with, “We [were] just playing knockout. That’s what we’ve been doing with our lives lately.”

Harris was joking, of course. But the Sixers have been in unfamiliar territory, navigating this eight-day layoff between their first-round playoff sweep of the Brooklyn Nets and Monday’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics.

The time off — which was longer than the All-Star break and extended when the Atlanta Hawks pushed their first-round series against Boston to six games — was likely more of a blessing than a curse.

It gave MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid the maximum opportunity to heal, prompting coach Doc Rivers to concede that, if this series had instead begun Saturday, “I don’t know how realistic that would have been” for Embiid to play. The coach then unofficially projected Embiid as doubtful to be available Monday, but that would have been the date of Game 2 had the Celtics-Hawks series finished in five games instead of six.

Yet this break has been strange, Rivers and players acknowledge. They have attempted to balance rest with work as best they could, and are preparing to combat rust when a challenging matchup against last year’s Finals participant finally tips off.

“It just takes you out of the playoffs, out of the intensity and the flow,” Rivers said. “We will take it, I think, at the end of the day. This is the longest [break between series] I’ve ever had, so [we are] just trying to keep our guys as sharp as possible, and all that is not easy.”

The Sixers were the only team in either conference to sweep their first-round opponent, generating the longest layoff between series for any team since the 2019 Golden State Warriors received nine days ahead of the NBA Finals. Reserve forward Georges Niang viewed it as a reward for a lesson learned, after the Toronto Raptors extended last year’s first-round series to six games, despite the Sixers taking a 3-0 lead.

Rivers said his coaching staff initially scripted a week-long plan from last Sunday through Friday, before the Hawks’ Trae Young added two additional days by sinking a deep three-pointer to win Game 5 against the Celtics. The Sixers took Sunday and Monday off, before practicing Tuesday through Thursday. Friday was another off day, before practices Saturday and Sunday ahead of a Sunday afternoon flight to Boston.

» READ MORE: Celtics open as huge favorites in series vs. Sixers as Joel Embiid’s injury status remains unclear

The Sixers have used the additional time to sharpen their own execution, including defensive concepts and offensive spacing, which Rivers called “horrendous” by the end of the Nets series. They experimented with what the coach described as “quirky” lineups, including small-ball looks. Players were jogging from one end of the court to the other when media entered the gym following Thursday’s practice, though Rivers conceded such conditioning work is not the same as “running with adrenaline.” And they scrimmaged Wednesday and Thursday, a rarity this time of year that left Rivers sitting there holding his breath out of concern another player would wind up injured.

“We had two guys run into each other in our scrimmage,” Rivers said Thursday. “You’ve got to play, because we’re basketball players, but you’re scared the entire scrimmage. … Just get through it, and let’s get out of here. That’s how you’re thinking.”

The layoff has also allowed the Sixers to absorb each night’s playoff games for entertainment and teaching purposes. Standout guard Tyrese Maxey said that, after returning home from the practice facility, he eats, takes a nap “and then I sit on my couch from about 7 to like 12:30 — 1 a.m. and just watch every single game.” Rivers lamented an incorrect prediction in the eighth-seeded Miami Heat’s five-game victory over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, saying he thought that series would go seven games.

The stunning result of that matchup, in particular, served as a reminder that the unexpected can happen in the playoffs — and that teams can stumble when the big-picture objective overshadows the steps required to reach that pinnacle.

» READ MORE: The Boston Celtics have had the Sixers’ number. Joel Embiid’s supporting cast must produce for that to change.

“[The Bucks] were looking at winning a title, and Miami was looking at beating them,” Rivers said, paraphrasing some of star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s postgame comments. “And that’s a great message. Just because you have a goal to win something, you can’t forget about the opponent in front of you.”

Harris added: “Through all the games, you’re seeing the competitive nature of it. But on the flip side of that, you’re seeing you can’t take any opponent lightly and you’ve really got to handle your business as soon as you step on the floor. As a whole group, I think everybody’s realizing that and seeing that.”

Rivers said Saturday’s practice came with a better focus, primarily because it was official that the Celtics would be their next opponent.

And when they board that charter plane for Boston Sunday afternoon, will there be a collective sense of “finally”?

“It’s definitely going to feel like that,” said reserve center Paul Reed. “It’s been a long break. We’ve just been watching teams play, getting eliminated left and right. We’re just glad to finally get back to playing.”