The NBA All-Star break has finally arrived for the Sixers, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the team’s three most important pieces: Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe.
“I think everybody’s looking forward to it,” coach Nick Nurse said of the time off. “I think we need it. It’ll be pretty good timing for us.”
Yes, Wednesday’s 138-89 loss to the New York Knicks was embarrassing, but despite the Sixers’ ups and downs this season, they are firmly in a playoff spot. Still, the Sixers need a physical and mental reset, even if some of their stars won’t be entirely off.
Maxey will be heading to Los Angeles as an All-Star Game starter, with Edgecombe in tow to play in the Rising Stars game. But Embiid will have a full, much-needed weeklong break.
Embiid missed his second consecutive game Wednesday with right knee soreness. Quentin Grimes also missed Wednesday’s game, while Dominick Barlow, who missed the final game of the road trip at Portland, returned to play 30 minutes, 37 seconds on Wednesday.
Nurse said before Wednesday’s game that there was “not a ton of concern” about Embiid’s knee long-term.
Embiid has appeared in 31 of the Sixers’ 54 games so far this year, skipping one leg of back-to-backs and missing most of November. But since that month, Embiid has quickly rounded back into form.
“He’ll still tell you that he’s — I don’t know, you can have him tell you — but still not near 100%, not close,” Nurse said. “I think that’s encouraging because he’s starting to look pretty good again in a lot of different areas.”
Some might consider Embiid’s exclusion from the All-Star Game a snub, but because of the break, the Sixers don’t play again until Feb. 19.
That’s a full week for Embiid to stay off his knee and recover while the Sixers can stay locked into their sixth-place spot in the East. Since January, the Sixers are 12-5 with Embiid in the lineup, and 1-5 without him.
“It’s hard,” Maxey said of playing without Embiid. “You go from one way to play without him early in the season, he comes back, you’ve got to play that way, then play a different way when he’s there — which is OK, it’s fine. It’s the reality of it, and we’ll be all right. I think he’ll be here more than he isn’t here when we get back, and we’ve just got to maintain those games that he’s not there.”
It’s not just Embiid who can benefit from the time off. Edgecombe will be competing in the Rising Stars event at All-Star Weekend, but the rookie, who has played in 50 of the Sixers’ 54 games, will get a brief, needed reprieve from the grind of the NBA schedule.
“He’s never played these type of minutes in his life,” Maxey said. “Even playing a 40-minute basketball game in college is way different than this. … We’re asking him to do a lot, so he’s probably definitely tired, but it’s OK. This is what the break is for.”
Entering the final game before the break, Edgecombe averaged 35.4 minutes, the most of any rookie, and ranked ninth in the NBA. Edgecombe played just 33 games at Baylor last year.
Edgecombe ended Wednesday night with 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting, displaying his incredible physical tools and his recent shooting woes. Early in his career, Maxey learned how seriously he needs to take recovery in order to keep playing big NBA minutes.
“I used to be like, ‘I don’t need treatment.’ I thought I was Superman,” Maxey said.
He’s making sure Edgecombe is taking that feedback.
But there might not be anyone on the team who needs rest more than Maxey. He has taken on the role as the Sixers’ top offensive option, and he is playing a career- and league-high 38.6 minutes per game.
Maxey has also made 52 starts and played the most games of anyone on the Sixers. He scored 32 points in 32:07 on Wednesday but sat for the entire fourth quarter of the blowout. He’ll get a little less rest than his teammates, since he’s making his first All-Star Game start — and taking part in Saturday night’s three-point contest — but said he still would make plenty of time for relaxation.
“I just want to get out there and just chill, sit in my hotel room, relax, get some good weather,” Maxey said. “I’ll get some relaxation and be good to go by Thursday.”
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