The Philadelphia 76ers entered Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse ready to build off their 2-0 start as they were set to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. They then received some tough news just prior to tipoff that Joel Embiid would be out for the game due to back tightness.
That caused coach Doc Rivers to turn to Dwight Howard to be his new starting center and that moved everybody up in the rotation a bit. The Sixers made Tony Bradley the backup center and they were not able to activate Vincent Poirier in time so they had to improvise for the third-string center.
Bradley struggled in backup minutes behind Howard and the Sixers turned to Ben Simmons to be the backup center in the second half. Those minutes were not very good as Simmons struggled on either end of the floor in those minutes.
“We were just reaching for straws,” said Rivers of going small. “I thought Tony really struggled in the first half, more with the concepts. At times, when you’re a coach, you make a decision ‘let’s see if we can change the tempo of the game by putting Mike Scott in to stretch the floor’. The problem was our passing was so poor tonight that we couldn’t take advantage of it.”
Without Embiid, the team had a tough time keeping Cavaliers big man Andre Drumond off the glass as he finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds in the win for the Cavs. Despite being 6-foot-10, Simmons is not the one who should be counted on keeping a guy like Drummond off the glass.
Offensively, Simmons is not a guy who is going to fill the role of a center. He is a guy who is supposed to initiate the offense and that part of his game can change while playing the center spot on the floor.
“To an extent,” Simmons added. “I got to just get in my positions for the plays, whatever we’re in, and continue to be able to move the ball. Still, be aggressive, still attack, if I get a rebound, push it and try to find my guys.”
As far as Bradley is concerned, he will certainly get another opportunity for the Sixers. When Embiid has to miss another game, then Bradley will step into the same role for them. He will just have to do a better job than what he showed on Sunday.
“Nothing’s different,” said a dejected Bradley after the loss. “Just gotta just listen better, pay more attention to the plays. Just do different stuff.”
Philadelphia will return home on Tuesday to host the Toronto Raptors at 7:00 p.m. EST.
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