PHILADELPHIA — This time, it is the 76ers. It is their turn. It is their place in line to remind us of a sobering truth echoed by Doc Rivers, their coach, about 90 minutes prior to the Sixers-Knicks game here at Wells Fargo Arena Monday night.
“This is still out there,” he said.
Pause.
“COVID is not over,” he said.
Pause.
“It’s still very much in play,” he said, shaking his head.
The Sixers learned — actually relearned — that lesson the hard way Monday when Joel Embiid — who was already scheduled to skip the Knicks game so he could rest up for Philly’s game with the defending-champion Bucks Tuesday — was placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocol. Later it was reported he tested positive for the virus.
He is the fourth 76er to be placed in the protocol, joining Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle and Isaiah Joe. When you add in Ben Simmons, who has yet to play for the Sixers this year as both he and the team try to figure out the star-crossed guard’s future, that’s five rotation guys out for the Sixers.
That’s a cold slap of water for what has been one of the NBA’s genuine surprise teams. The Sixers were off to an 8-2 start heading into Monday’s game despite missing Simmons. Now they’ll have to maintain against the Bucks (after the Knicks) and then for a six-day western road swing that begins next week.
“Well,” Rivers said, “I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for us. I guarantee Thibs and the Knicks will not feel bad for us once the game starts tonight.”
Tom Thibodeau may not have been willing to throw a pity party for his old friend. But the Knicks’ coach did acknowledge that it’s sobering news, almost two years into the pandemic, that a team like the Sixers, who reportedly have a high vaccination rate, can be vulnerable. That means anyone — everyone — remains so.
“It’s a question for every team, across the board,” Thibodeau said. “It’s a question for everyone. Our medical team has spoke with us and we still take all the precautions necessary. We try to do the best we can.”
Then it was time for him to pause.
“It’s serious,” he said.
Thibodeau, of course, has his own worries. His team suddenly is allergic to Madison Square Garden, which is a most troubling development. The Knicks have their own physical problems. Mitchell Robinson missed Monday night’s game and Nerlens Noel was a late go after being declared a game-time decision. Kemba Walker was back in the lineup after missing Sunday’s game with Cleveland as a rest day.
“We know what we have to do to get better,” Thibodeau said. “But there’s a difference between knowing and doing.”
There’s also a difference between powering through the usual aches, pains, sprains and strains of the long NBA season and dealing with what the Sixers are dealing with now, an invisible foe that remains in the front of the league’s conscience. The league issued a memo Monday urging those who had the J&J shot more than two months ago to get a booster as soon as possible.
That opened the door for Rivers to enjoy a little laugh.
“I’m pro-booster,” he said. “Like I was at Marquette.”
There was a moment before his audience got it.
“That’s a joke,” he said. “I’m still pro booster.”
There have probably been few laughs around the Sixers these last few days, despite the record, despite how well they’ve played. That’s usually when Rivers’ teams are at their most dangerous, though, when they’re dealing with a million and one things and Rivers is able to remind them that only the 48 minutes ahead of them that night should be of concern to them.
“We’ve gotten thin,” he said, “but at the end of the day we’ll compete. It’ll be a heck of a story to tell if we can pull this out.”