That was an interesting Sixers weekend.

They looked great Saturday against the Knicks, locking it down on the defensive end and riding Joel Embiid to a comfortable, 20-point win. Then we got word on Sunday afternoon that Embiid would not play against the Cavs, and the rest of the squad proceeded to sleepwalk their way to a 24-point loss.

Doc Rivers said postgame that the back tightness limiting Embiid is not a huge concern. Of course, we had grumbling about the big man not being healthy, three games into the season, but that’s to be expected, the complaining. Regardless, it’s worth pointing out that the NBA has new rules limiting the ability to do load management. You get fined if you do it on national television game nights. They also want franchises to rest players at home, instead of on the road. There’s leeway for teams depending on a variety of scenarios and sometimes you’ll see minor injuries pop up as an excuse to sit these guys down.

Let’s establish one thing right off the bat:

These back-to-backs are pointless. They were useless in a regular, non-pandemic, 82-game season.

The product is poor, one team is typically undermanned, and the overall benefit to the league is what? More money? That’s pretty much it. Certainly that game did nothing for the fans. Bottom line, nobody needed to see the Sixers play a road back-to-back just two games into their season, on a Sunday night, going up against the NFL. This Sixers/Cavs game had zero juice with Embiid out and the Eagles losing their tenth game on a different television channel.

Anyway, Rivers said Embiid was planning on playing Sunday, but they decided not to chance it.

Here’s more of what he said about Joel’s absence, and playing without him:

“It always affects you a little bit, because we assumed he was playing. It was a late scratch. So late that we couldn’t even add the extra big. When that happens, you still have to be able to play and get through it. There’s no excuses for that to affect your team. It’s gonna happen all year with guys. Guys think they can go, we wait, we wait, and they tell us they can’t. Joel won’t be the only one, and somebody else has to step up. I don’t think we stepped up at all.”

That’s about it. We don’t need to dive deep into the Cavs game.

Some other observations:

Simmons on the defensive end

Really nice game for Ben against RJ Barrett on Saturday night. He pretty much locked him down. Down into nothingness.

Barrett shot 2-15 from the floor and scored six of his ten points at the foul line. Mind you, he shot 73% on opening night and 42% in a win against the Bucks, so Simmons really did a nice job on a guy who might be turning the corner.

The matchup stats:

Ben had him for a large portion of the game and held him to 1-12. The other made shot came against Mike Scott, when Simmons was off the floor. If Simmons can lock it down like this against big name players this year, he’s gonna win end-of-season defensive awards.

Seth Curry’s usage

Curry had a 2-7 shooting night on Sunday, but looked good on Saturday, scoring 17 points on 6-8 shooting.

We didn’t see a ton of him in the opener, but this is a better sample of how he can contribute when the team is at full strength:

You see some variety in there. A pick and roll, a DHO, and a transition layup. What stands out are the handful of sequences where he just hovers around the perimeter and makes himself available for catch and shoot three point attempts. That’s going to be key this year when Simmons drives and kicks, or Embiid inevitably gets double teamed and needs an outlet.

Tobias Harris

16 points on Sunday night, a 5-10 shooting night and 4-6 night from beyond the arc.

That’s certainly fine from a percentage and efficiency standpoint, but when you’re the highest-paid player on a team missing its biggest star, you gotta find a way to get up more than ten field goal attempts. Same with Ben Simmons, who only took eight shots. When Embiid is out, somebody has to step it up, and Harris is the guy who should be taking on more of the load.

Somehow he finished with fewer points and fewer field goal attempts than he did on Saturday night, when Embiid was playing. Harris was on the floor 30 minutes Saturday night and 28 minutes Sunday night, so I’m not sure how the numbers wound up the way they did.

The Sixers need assertive Harris. Max contract Harris. Quick-twitch Harris. They’re not getting that right now.

Other notes:

  • Danny Green is pretty much invisible on the offensive end. He’s taken 11 shots in three games.
  • The effort wasn’t good in the Cavs game. Say what you will about execution and shot making, but they weren’t playing hard.
  • Tony Bradley struggled Sunday night and Rivers experimented with Simmons and Scott at the five.
  • Dwight Howard and fouls are a very intriguing NBA relationship. He gets whistled for some ticky-tack stuff, and keeping him on the floor is gonna be a storyline this year.
  • A lot of BAD turnovers in the Cleveland game. Driving, kicking, getting caught in the air, all sorts of stuff that we saw in years past. Transition passing was hideous.
  • Furkan Korkmaz shot 2-15 this weekend and left Sunday’s game injured.

That’s about it. They’re a work in progress. We’re three games in. On to the next one, Tuesday night, at home against the Raptors.