Doc Rivers Praises Shorthanded Sixers for Stepping Up vs. Heat

Hours before the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat tipped off on Monday night, the Sixers found out they would have a few critical absences. On Monday afternoon, the Sixers downgraded a questionable Joel Embiid to out as he continues to deal with back soreness and could use a night of rest.

And while James Harden mentioned he planned to play in Monday night's game following Sunday night's loss to the Toronto Raptors, the plans changed as he was ruled out a few hours before the game was set to start due to rest purposes.

Was Monday a planned loss for the Sixers? If so, the team didn't get the memo.

Despite missing two All-Stars in Embiid and Harden, the shorthanded Sixers stepped up to the challenge as they faced off against the Eastern Conference's top dogs.

To many watching, Philadelphia's success over Miami might've been a surprise considering the circumstances. But to 76ers head coach Doc Rivers, he could see it coming as the team prepared for this moment.

Rivers Praises the Supporting Cast

"We work on it a lot," said Rivers, regarding playing without the two stars. "We know, going into the year I’ll say this, with Joel [Embiid] you know he’s gonna miss some games. And I thought last year we weren’t prepared for it until the second half of the year. This year we work on it every day."

Coming off of a disappointing loss against Toronto, the Sixers bounced back from start to finish on Monday. Through the first half of action, they shot nearly 50-percent from the floor as the ball movement looked crisp and the shooting was sharp.

With a solid all-around effort from the temporary starting lineup and the bench unit, the Sixers possessed a lead going into halftime on Monday night. And when the Sixers took the floor for the second half, they kept the ball rolling as they shot even better from the floor and outscored the Heat by six points in the final 24 minutes.

"What are we gonna do? How are we gonna score and space the floor? And we work on it every day," Rivers continued. "They play that dribble weave stuff every day in practice. And so they’re comfortable when they come in the game to do that. And moving forward, we’ve been doing it with James [Harden] as well. Think about that same kind of motion with James doing it. It can be pretty good, but you’ve got to give up yourself to do it, and I thought our guys did that today."

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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