With Sixers' stars ‘finally' all available, Nurse talks starting lineup, roles

Joel Embiid was part of the post-practice mix Wednesday.

Along with co-stars Tyrese Maxey and Paul George and backup big man Andre Drummond, Embiid played some spirited 1-on-1 games. He scored often, at one point powering through the relatively tiny Maxey for a layup.

Following Embiid’s 31-point, 12-rebound performance Sunday in a win over the Bulls, the Sixers got a couple days off. At the moment, all seems well for a player whose bothersome left knee has been a near-constant concern this season. 

“I think everything’s pretty good,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “He logged the minutes. We’ve got to see how he responds to it. Obviously, we did have two days off, but he did go through the full practice today, start to finish. And he looked good today as well, so I think that’s encouraging. Kind of take it a day at a time.”

That victory in Chicago was the 7-15 Sixers’ fourth in their last five games. It was also the first time the Embiid-George-Maxey trio shared the floor for a complete game.

“I think there’s some quick growth we can make there,” Nurse said, “just because they’ve played together, finally. They’ve played together and now we can start tweaking it a little bit.”

To open the afternoon against the Bulls, Nurse played Kelly Oubre Jr. and Guerschon Yabusele next to his three stars. However, he started the second half with Jared McCain instead of Yabusele and generally tilted toward smaller personnel that matched the Bulls. Drummond didn’t play in the final three quarters. 

McCain had a nice game in Chicago, posting 11 points, four assists, zero turnovers and three steals. What does Nurse see the rookie's role being when the Sixers are at or near full strength? 

“I’m still not quite sure,” he said, “but I think right now it looks like he’s kind of an energy scorer off the bench at the two. Certainly, we’ll play him some at the one. I could see that changing some a little bit, that somewhere down the road that evolves a little differently. But I really liked him (in Chicago). 

“I started him in the second half. I think coming in and out of the starting lineup sometimes … I think he really fits (well) with the other three. Really good piece out there to space the floor. And he made a couple buckets the other night where the shot clock gets late, the ball ends up in his hands and he goes and gets a bucket. Comes in handy.”

At least in the short term, Nurse forecast further tinkering with the starting lineup. 

“Maybe,” he said when asked about whether his starters were fluid. “But I would say this: I would probably envision more first-half starters and second-half starters changing a lot. I go into that game on Sunday thinking, ‘Let’s be big. Let’s just be big and out-big ‘em.’ And then I just didn’t quite like it, so I went another direction. So I could see that — first half and second half changing quite a bit.”

For the time being, both KJ Martin and Caleb Martin have been on the Sixers’ second unit. 

Since returning from a two-game absence with upper back soreness, Caleb Martin’s been a bench player the past four games. As he’s acknowledged, Martin tends to suit up and shrug off pain and discomfort. Nurse views that as the main reason why he’s shot worse than his career averages thus far — 40.5 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from three-point range and 67.2 percent at the foul line. 

“He’s out there playing and he’s not anywhere near 100 percent,” Nurse said. “He’s got all kinds of things going on … trying to take care of some of those, mostly. Listen, I’m encouraged. I think he can certainly play a lot better. He’s kind of in this (group) trying to figure out where he is, how he fits, all that kind of stuff, but I’m not worried about it at all. 

“He plays his guts out, he’s great in the locker room, he puts in all the time on the film. I think it’s just going to be a bonus when he can settle in, feel a little better physically, and we can figure out how to use him and make a little bit more comfortable.”

With the NBA Cup’s knockout rounds unfolding, the Sixers appreciated the rare chance to rest and recover early this week before returning to work. They’ll practice again Thursday and host the 10-15 Pacers on Friday. 

“It was great,” KJ Martin said. “I know everybody probably has different things going on with their bodies, so to just have a couple days to get treatment, go in the cold tub, do whatever you need to do just to try to get somewhere close to 100 percent, it’ll definitely help us in the future.”