The Philadelphia 76ers are heading into their second preseason game shorthanded, but that hasn’t pushed Nick Nurse into full-blown caution mode.
After opening the preseason against the New York Knicks on Monday night, the Sixers saw veteran center Ariel Hukporti go down with a devastating Achilles tear just a few minutes into the game. With another season-ending injury already on the books, it would be easy to imagine Philadelphia taking the conservative route and shelving key players for the rest of October.
Nurse doesn’t sound interested in going that far.
The head coach said Wednesday that Thursday’s matchup with the Brooklyn Nets could feature “the majority” of the roster, and he explained why he doesn’t believe the preseason should turn into a total shutdown period.
"I think it doesn't make much sense to me that you sit out all the games and all of a sudden it's going 100 miles an hour in Game 1, because the pace is even over 100 early in the year," Nurse told reporters on Wednesday.
"It seems like the pace to start the year is always way up there. So, I think trying to find the right balance, trying to get collaboration with the guys about how they're feeling, where they are in their conditioning, are they ready to take some contact? All those things weigh in on what we're doing."
That’s the balancing act for Philadelphia: stay careful, but don’t disappear from live action altogether. Nurse’s point is clear enough. Preseason isn’t the time for reckless decisions, but it also isn’t the time to hide healthy players just for the sake of avoiding risk.
The Sixers need that caution to be individualized. If a player is healthy, there’s a case for getting him on the floor.
If he isn’t, the medical staff should make the call. But if everyone is cleared and feeling good, there’s value in letting them play instead of treating every preseason minute like a threat.
That matters for a team that knows some absences are going to happen no matter what. Joel Embiid is going to miss action.
LeBron James too. Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe, and Tyrese Maxey may be able to stack up more games, but Philadelphia can’t count on its best lineup being out there often enough to waste chances when they’re available.
So if the group Nurse mentioned has stayed fully healthy through camp, the Sixers have reason to use these preseason reps instead of letting fear keep them on the sideline.
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