The Philadelphia 76ers got back to work on Sunday at practice to begin getting ready for the season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday and they had a lot of things they had to address.
One is the Ben Simmons situation as the embattled star ended his holdout and he returned to practice with the team for the first time after clearing the NBA’s COVID protocol. The other is the fact that the team is dealing with a slew of injuries at the moment.
Tobias Harris has missed practice due to right knee soreness and Matisse Thybulle has missed time due to right shoulder soreness. The two of them only played in one preseason game each and with the season getting set to begin, the Sixers need both of those guys out there in order to succeed.
“Both were good,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Matisse, I wanna say made it through without coming out much other than us pulling him out. Tobias, we were more careful with quite honestly. Some of the halfcourt pick-up stuff we didn’t keep him on the floor a lot. He’s fine, but for me, I need him to get to Wednesday.”
Harris is one of the team’s true go-to guys from the perimeter in terms of his scoring. He is one of the few guys on this roster who can truly break down a defense and get into the paint and create his own look. Philadelphia will need to be careful with him in order to make sure he is set to go.
“My knee’s feeling better so today was kind of the first practice I was able to do,” Harris explained. “I feel good out there so we’ll see how it reacts tomorrow and go from there day by day. It was a good day at practice. For me, it’s just good to just get back out there with the guys and be able to participate. That was fun for me.”
As far as Thybulle goes, the bouncy third-year forward from Washington is excited to get to work and he is feeling better after undergoing treatment.
“Good, yeah, it feels much better,” he smiled. “It feels good to get back out there.
A lot of strengthening work. A lot of everything. I don’t know. I just do what they tell me to do. I trust them.”
In terms of being able to play on Wednesday in New Orleans, Thybulle remains on track to play in that game.
“Absolutely, yeah,” he stated. “That’s been the plan and everything’s been on track.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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