Welcome Back Night was a success for the 76ers.
Sunday marked the Sixers’ first home game with paid fans in attendance since last season was shut down on March 11, 2020 due to the pandemic. The sellout crowd of 3,071 at Wells Fargo Center brought an energy not felt in the team’s first 19 home games.
Tobias Harris addressed the fans in pregame and the Sixers honored them with a “Welcome Back” video tribute before beating the San Antonio Spurs, 134-99.
The victory improved the Sixers to 27-12, a full game of the Brooklyn Nets for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
This night marked the return of Ben Simmons and the Sixers’ first game without Joel Embiid since his injury on Friday against the Washington Wizards. Embiid is expected to be out for a few weeks.
Simmons finished with 14 points, nine assists, four rebounds and a steal one day after clearing the NBA’s health and safety protocols. With his team up 33 points, Simmons and the other Sixers starters sat out the fourth quarter.
The three-time All-Star missed the March 7 All-Star Game, Thursday’s game at Chicago and Friday’s contest at Washington due to coming in contact with a barber who tested positive for COVID-19. Simmons had to quarantine for seven days following the last exposure to him.
The point guard was cleared to resume basketball activities after receiving a lab-based PCR negative result on Saturday. It was his seventh straight day of testing negative. He had a hard workout that day and another one Sunday morning in preparation for the game.
His presence was a welcomed addition.
It took a little time to find his own shot, missing both of his shot attempts in the first quarter. At one point in the second quarter, Simmons had six assists while shooting 1 for 4 from the field. But his second basket came on an eight-foot hook shot. Then he scored the team’s next basket on a transition dunk. After a Tobias Harris jumper, he scored on a 4-foot hook shot.
The Sixers took a 60-52 lead into the half. Simmons had nine points, seven assists, four rebounds and one steal. He and his teammate went on to build a commanding 42-point cushion on Matisse Thybulle’s three-pointer with 9 minutes, 31 seconds left in the game.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked before the game if Simmons has to shoot from the perimeter to become an elite player in this league. The fourth-year veteran has made 2 of 7 three-pointers this season and 4 of 31 for his career.
“Well ... it would enhance his game, obviously,” Popovich said. “That can’t be argued with. But, all of his skills, I mean physical skills, basketball skills, the way he understands the game, as unselfish as he is, he’s so elite already. Who gives a [darn] if he can’t shoot?”
On this night, the Sixers had a balanced attack with Harris (23 points), Seth Curry (21 points), Danny Green (16) and reserves Furkan Korkmaz (16) and Matisse Thybulle (10) as the other double-digit scorers.
They were fine without Embiid, who suffered a bone bruise while hyperextending his left knee on Friday against the Wizards. The four-time All-Star will be sidelined for two to three weeks. He and the Sixers are fortunate that Saturday morning’s MRI determined that there’s no structural damage to his knee.
“Obviously, I was pretty happy with the news,” Doc Rivers said. “You know, it’s looked bad, but obviously we never know. That’s what I saying that night. So we had to wait and see and it turned out in our favor.”
Seldom-used center Tony Bradley started in place of Embiid for the third time this season. The Sixers will probably stay with him in the lineup. Rivers said they are going to move the starting assignment around in regards to starting Bradley or backup Dwight Howard. Howard started in four of the games Embiid missed this season. Rivers doesn’t have a problem going back to that.
“None of them are going to be Joel,” Rivers said. “We understand that. So we’re just going to move it around to see what works.”
The Spurs were without LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan. Aldridge is not with the team, as San Antonio is attempting to trade the post player. Meanwhile, DeRozan is away due to personal reasons.
