In his first media availability since the Sixers’ matchup with Denver, Joel Embiid expressed his frustration with the league’s handling of game postponements due to COVID-19 this season.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers let it be known before Saturday’s game between the Sixers and Nuggets that he thought the circumstances merited a postponement.
Mike Scott was active, giving the Sixers the minimum of eight players, but Rivers didn’t think he was healthy enough to appear in an NBA game. The 32-year-old had missed the past four contests with a left knee contusion.
“I think we have eight active players,” Rivers said Saturday. “One has been injured in Mike Scott. I can tell you now, there’s no way I’m going to play him. I just don’t think he should play.”
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Tuesday, Scott played 46 minutes and scored 16 points in a 137-134 Sixers overtime win over the Heat. He was asked about the sequence of events that led to him being active but not playing in the Denver game.
“That’s what it was,” he said. “What you just said.”
What was his communication like with Rivers leading into the game?
“You’ve got to ask Doc,” he said. “I ain’t no snitch.”
NBA
Joel Embiid, after carrying the Sixers to victory with 45 points and 16 rebounds against Miami, was more expansive on the subject. He was ruled out of Saturday’s game with back tightness, which Rivers said Embiid had started complaining about the night prior. Ben Simmons also sat with left knee swelling despite not appearing on the game’s initial injury report, and the Sixers were later fined $25,000 for not listing him.
“It just seems like every other game keeps getting (postponed), but us, I guess the league keeps making us play,” Embiid said. “There’s really no other explanation behind it, especially that Denver game where we had to dress an injured player just to make sure that we had enough players to be able to compete while other teams, they haven’t had that many players and the league hasn’t made any of them play an injured player just to make sure that there’s a game going on.
"So, it’s unfortunate, but it’s the next man up. Can’t complain about it. Winning still counts, losses still count. We need to get all these wins. We need to keep fighting until those guys are back, and that’s our job.”
Embid's response Tuesday was actually somewhat mild compared to his recent Twitter activity.
Though there’s no evidence of a calculated NBA conspiracy against the Sixers, Embiid’s stance is fair enough. Six NBA games have been postponed so far this season, including the Celtics’ last three, with COVID-19 protocols contributing to teams being unable to field eight players. Perhaps the late reporting of Simmons and Embiid’s injuries had something to do with the league’s apparent desire to avoid a postponement Saturday.
The Sixers had two more healthy players than Miami on Tuesday as eight members of the Heat were sidelined because of health and safety protocols. In addition to Seth Curry, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Shake Milton and Vincent Poirier were out against the Heat. Furkan Korkmaz has been sidelined by a left adductor strain.
Terrance Ferguson now has to clear the league’s protocols after being away from the team for personal reasons. Rivers thinks it’s “a possibility” that Harris, Thybulle, Milton and Poirier could return following the Sixers’ mini-series vs. the Heat, which is set to conclude Thursday.
As far as Saturday’s game is concerned, there aren’t yet any satisfying answers. Whatever Scott knows, there's no question he's keeping it to himself.
