CAMDEN, N.J.–The Philadelphia 76ers have two preseason games left on the schedule before they open the season on the road on Oct. 18 against the Boston Celtics and they will use that time wisely.
After resting Joel Embiid, James Harden, and PJ Tucker in their preseason opener, the three of them played a grand total of 18 minutes in Wednesday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
As they get set for preseason game No. 3 on Monday against those same Cavs on the road, coach Doc Rivers wants to be sure those starters get their minutes.
“Yeah,” said Rivers when asked if the starters will play in both games.
As far as a plan on how to ramp up their minutes, he wouldn’t go into detail on that plan, but he promises they will play.
“Yeah, definitely,” Rivers added. “They’re ready anyway because even in practice, I mean we go a long time. You do know it’s still in that game minutes. I don’t care how hard we practiced today, and it was a hard practice, you’re still tired in a game. That’s just the way it is. My guess is adrenaline, energy, and excitement, and all that stuff. We’ll be ready for the game.”
As far as what Rivers would like to see in the third exhibition game, other than seeing more Tucker at the 5 spot, he would like to see the Sixers work on gaining cohesion and continuing to grow as a unit.
“Really more about us,” he stated. “Running our stuff, seeing our pace, playing a couple of different units tomorrow more than we have. We really haven’t had the ability to.”
Tipoff with the Cavs is set for 7 p.m. EDT on Monday night.
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire