Doc Rivers

Among the favourites for the NBA title this season, the Clippers sensationally gave up a 3-1 series lead to be eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semi-finals.

Rivers arrived at the Clippers in 2013 and led them to the playoffs in six of seven seasons, but never beyond the conference semi-finals.

The 58-year-old posted on Twitter thanking the team, confirming his exit.

"Thank you Clipper Nation for allowing me to be your coach and for all your support in helping make this a winning franchise," Rivers wrote.

"When I took this job, my goals were to make this a winning basketball program, a free agent destination, and bring a championship to this organisation. While I was able to accomplish most of my goals, I won't be able to see them all through.

"Though it was a disappointing ending to our season, you are right there and I know what this team is capable of accomplishing with your support.

"Thank you to all the players, coaches, and staff for helping us get here. Most importantly, thank you to the fans. We went through a lot, and I am grateful for my time here."

Rivers finished with a 356-208 regular-season record at the helm of the Clippers, but was just 27-32 in the playoffs.

The Clippers, who sit second in the Western Conference, overcame the Dallas Mavericks 126-111 on Thursday, with just four games left before the postseason campaign begins. 

However, Rivers is having to make do without the likes of Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley and he wants his high-flying squad fighting fit for the business end of the season.

Asked where his team are at on a scale of one to 10, coach Rivers said: "That's a good question. I don't know, six or seven.

"We still have Trez [Harrell] out. We still have several guys that have minute restrictions that put a major problem on us, especially with guards. We still have Pat out."

Injury and illness have been a running theme of the Clippers' season since NBA action resumed, with Ivica Zubac and Landry Shamet having revealed they tested positive for coronavirus.

Indeed, Rivers suggested there had only been three instances when his whole team practiced together.

"I think it's been three with the entire group," he explained.

"It would be nice to have a stretch where our whole team was available, practicing and playing.

"But we haven't had that all year. It's been amazing. We just got to keep rolling."

Kawhi Leonard was the star in the Clippers' win over the Mavericks, scoring 29 points. 

It was a disappointing evening for the Clippers, who fell short in a rally to fall to a 114-104 loss on the road.

Rivers allowed frustration to get the better of him with a little over a minute remaining when Patrick Beverley was pinged for fouling the influential Nikola Jokic.

After Jokic nailed the free-throws, Rivers – who was already reeling from seeing Montrezl Harrell called for an offensive charge against Jerami Grant earlier in the quarter – remonstrated with official Nick Buchert and received two technical fouls to be ejected. 

"Listen, coaches can lose their composure, so can officials," Rivers said. "There's no way I should have been thrown out of the game.

"The pick was solid. The bottom line is I shouldn't get a tech. That's number one. That's on me."

Jokic impressed for the Nuggets with 20 points, 15 rebounds and six assists and Rivers conceded his team did not get to grips with the Denver dangerman.

"Post-ups, he's great. Passing, he's great. Shooting, he's great," Rivers said. "Not a lot of weaknesses there. Just got to guard him hard."

The Clippers were without Paul George (hamstring) for the second straight game and Rivers said "we'll just keep evaluating" when asked about his progress.

Embiid finished the game with 41 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocks in a dominant display.

It marked Embiid's third game of at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks, which is the second-most since blocks became official in 1973-74, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's four.

Embiid also went past Charles Barkley with his sixth career game of at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

"He was awesome," Rivers said at the post-game news conference. “He took his shots. What we talk about with him every day, make or miss, just get your shot. Get the shot you want. I thought he did that.

"I thought Seth [Curry] did that as well. Our execution down the stretch was absolutely perfect. The spacing, I think we got two threes off their spacing out the post. [It] was perfect. That was pretty good.”

Embiid had good support from both Tobias Harris (25 points, seven rebounds and three assists) and Seth Curry (26 points, four rebounds and seven assists).

However, the Cameroonian center got the 76ers over the line with 17 points in the final quarter, including a clutch late shot in the corner under pressure.

"That's a shot that we work on every single day," Embiid said at the post-game news conference. "So that's a shot that I just didn't pull out of nowhere. We worked on it so many times.

"I saw the double team coming, and at that point, there had been a couple of times where I got doubled and we didn't cut quick enough, and I had no passing lanes and I ended up turning the ball over. So, in that situation, I thought I had a great angle and I had been making shots. I thought it was a great shot."

The win improves the 76ers' record to 16-15 but they are still well off the pace set by the Brooklyn Nets (21-9) in the Eastern Conference.

"I gotta do it every night," Embiid said. "Right now, it's a lot tougher because we got a bunch of guys out and haven't been winning. So that was one that we needed."

The 76ers nudged themselves ahead in their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Celtics with a 119-115 win on Monday.

Philadelphia were without talisman and NBA MVP candidate Joel Embiid, who was ruled out of Game 1 due to a sprained ankle.

Yet Harden stepped up, scoring 45 points, matching his playoff career-high.

"I thought that he had just the perfect mindset tonight," 76ers coach Rivers said of Harden.

"He really did. I'm so happy for him because it just tells you what he can do on given nights.

"The guy is a Hall of Famer, and all you hear is the other stuff about him, and he was fantastic."

Harden finished with 17-for-30 from the field and 7-for-14 three-pointers.

"I haven't felt one of those zones in a minute," Harden said. "You know what I mean? Just to be aggressive and shoot the basketball and do what I want.

"That felt really good. I'm capable of doing it, so it felt good. It felt good to make those shots, to give ourselves a chance."

Harden, though, does not feel he needs to prove himself all over again – he just wants to help the Sixers win.

"I don't need to make a statement," Harden added. "My coaches, my team-mates, what they expect me to do all throughout the course of the year was be a facilitator and get Joel the basketball and score when necessary. Joel wasn't here tonight, you know what I mean? And, we knew that going into this series.

"Now it's like, 'All right, open the floor. James, you be aggressive.' And tonight, I was aggressive. So, it's not that I'm not capable of doing it, this is my role for this team. Now, if you want me to do [what I did] tonight, then I can do that as well.

"I don't think a lot of players can do that. So yeah, I appreciate that."

For Harden's team-mate P.J. Tucker, Monday's win was evidence the Sixers are not wholly reliant on star player Embiid.

"I think we take pride in playing without the big fella," Tucker said. "As good as he is, I think it gives others opportunities to step up and play.

"Everybody took a little step up with him out. It's like a pride thing for us."

The NBA has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the 2019-20 season will resume on Thursday, with the Clippers meeting Western Conference rivals the Los Angeles Lakers in Orlando, Florida.

Boasting stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers are set to be without Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell against the Lakers at Walt Disney World Resort.

Patrick Beverley, Landry Shamet and Ivica Zubac have also had interrupted preparations due to either excused family emergencies or COVID-19 issues.

But as the Clippers (44-20) – second behind the Lakers in the west – prepare to resume their championship bid, Rivers talked up the team's roster.

"Well, a deep roster is built for that," Rivers said on Wednesday. "And we've done that. Now, when you have five and six guys out at one time, that's asking too much on any roster.

"By the time the [seeding] games start, we won't have that many out, but we'll have maybe two to three key guys out, and that's asking a lot.

"Having said that, that doesn't stop us from believing we're going to win every game. We have great confidence."

"Guys have the virus, guys have family stuff, and so you have all of this what I call clutter in your lives, and it's part of life," Rivers said. "So we've had to deal with that.

"But adversity is not all bad. You're going to go through hard stuff, and if it's at the beginning, then let's do it now."

Leonard, who has sat out the second of back-to-back games this season due to load management after leading the Toronto Raptors to their first championship last year, is averaging 26.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 2019-20.

"I knew that we had a pretty deep squad," Leonard told reporters. "I knew how talented we could be. It's about executing now."

Leonard posted a double-double as the Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 111-97 to seal a 4-2 series win in the Western Conference on Sunday.

A two-time champion after guiding the Toronto Raptors to their first title last season, Leonard finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds in Game 6 at Walt Disney World Resort.

And Clippers head coach Rivers heaped praise on two-time Finals MVP Leonard following his exploits against the Mavericks in the opening-round series.

"Kawhi was phenomenal throughout this whole series," Rivers told reporters. "I thought he was dominant and then PG picked it up greatly after the first two games.

"But there's so many other little things that guys -- I thought that Marcus [Morris Sr.] throughout was not only just a good player but he was an instigator. [Ivica] Zubac had the playoff of his life. [Landry] Shamet and Reggie [Jackson] makes big shots. I liked how we looked in that way; that other guys contributed."

Leonard had his fifth consecutive game with 30-plus points for the Clippers, who will face either the Utah Jazz or Denver Nuggets in the next round.

He also recorded seven assists and five steals as the Clippers eliminated Luka Doncic and the Mavericks – becoming the first player in franchise history to post at least 30 points and five steals in a playoff clash.

Rivers added: "You can tell he was the one guy that shoots to close out a series. He [Leonard] was calm. He got us in place.

"You know, during games you fall on a set and we fell on that low elbow set for him. We just took what was there. They didn't come; he scored. If they came, he made the right pass.

"I said it before the game, I think I was talking to P.J. Carlesimo and I was telling him, the one thing I didn't know -- I knew he could pass and I knew he may be a good passer. I didn't know he was an elite passer, and that's something you don't know until you coach a guy."

The Clippers managed to see off the Mavericks, despite a game-high 38 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

"This is playoff basketball and everything is not going to go your way," Leonard said. "You're going to have downs and ups. Just got to keep playing."

Looking ahead in the postseason, Leonard added: "Just got to focus. That's what we got to do. Less mistakes for sure, and more execution."

"It's one step closer to where we want to get to, so it's a good accomplishment that we got through the first round, now we enjoy it tonight and we get ready for the next thing tomorrow [Monday]," he said.

That was the verdict of 76ers head coach Doc Rivers, who watched Embiid match his career-high points tally of 50 in only 27 minutes on court at Wells Fargo Center.

The four-time NBA All-Star became the first center to score at least 50 points in a match this season, also taking 12 rebounds and providing two assists as he stole the show.

Embiid emulated the great Wilt Chamberlain, who had been the only other Sixers player in history to register multiple 50-plus points in a game and also claim 10 or more rebounds.

Rivers said of the 27-year-old's stunning display: "He was unbelievable, from the start."

He added: "I played with Dominique [Wilkins], and I don't know if I've seen that. 

"I've seen Dominique score more, but it took the whole game. That was easy, quick, efficient and determined."

Embiid amassed his half-century and 10 rebounds quicker than any NBA player since 1955.

He spent only 58 seconds on court in the final quarter after swinging the game firmly in Philadelphia's favour, moving them to 26-18 in fifth spot in the Eastern Conference.

Magic acting head coach Jesse Mermuys doffed his cap to Embiid, saying it was impossible to contain him.

He said: "With the way he was playing, there was really no way to go get him. He hit fadeaways, step-backs. I mean, he was impressive."

The Clippers spoiled Rivers' return as they downed his Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers 122-112 on Saturday.

It was Rivers' first meeting with the Clippers since he was fired in the offseason, having let slip a 3-1 series lead in the second round of the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets.

But it was not a warm welcome on the court, where the 76ers had their four-game winning run brought to a grinding halt.

Kawhi Leonard put up 19 of his 28 points in a dazzling first half, with Paul George contributing 24.

It left Rivers in no doubt as to who the leading contenders are in the West, with the Clippers and the Lakers getting the nod ahead of the Utah Jazz – who currently lead the way in the standings – the Nuggets and the Portland Trail Blazers.

"I thought Denver had a great trade deadline – they did great moves," Rivers said. "Utah is playing unbelievable basketball, so they are going to be right there. Portland, I thought improved their team as well.

"But I still think it's the Lakers and the Clippers."

With Ty Lue now at the helm, Rivers acknowledged there are many differences to the team he coached, but pointed out that the Clippers had a solid platform to build on following his departure.

"They're a different team," Rivers said. "They don't have a lot of the same guys, [but] they run a lot of the same stuff that I run.

"Going through [their plays at] shootaround today, I thought we were going through our shootaround at times. But I wouldn't have changed much offensively, either. I mean, they were pretty darn good last year.

"The difference is they've had a chance to practice together, you know? And you can see that. I think they've given the ball to PG [George] more, which I think has helped him. So they've made some good changes.

"The biggest change I see also is defensively. I think they are a better defensive team. It's funny, the numbers don't exactly say that, but when I watch them, I think they're going to be a better defensive team, one of the better defensive teams when the playoffs start."

Terance Mann had a season-high 23 points for the Clippers on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, while he made both of his three-point attempts.

The 76ers had a six-game road winning run ended, despite a game-high 29 points from Tobias Harris.

Games on Wednesday and Thursday were postponed after the Bucks decided to sit out of Game 5 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic.

The demonstration was made in protest against police brutality and racial inequality after Jacob Blake, a black man, was repeatedly shot in the back by police in Milwaukee's home state of Wisconsin.

As the Bucks' stance garnered support around the league, initial reports from the NBA bubble in Orlando suggested the season could be halted as a result.

But the NBA and NBPA have announced plans to return on Saturday based on commitments from the league that placed a particular emphasis upon enabling voter participation in the 2020 general election this November.

Clippers coach Rivers, who was praised for his emotional words on Blake's shooting earlier this week, told reporters following confirmation of the resumption plans: "The players were phenomenal.

"I was fortunate enough that they invited me to sit in on meetings and, just as a fly on the wall, I was so impressed with them. At the meeting last night, I was really impressed."

Support of Black Lives Matter has been a constant since the NBA season returned amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the death of George Floyd in police custody in May bringing the movement to the fore.

Citing Floyd's final words as a police officer knelt on his neck - "I can't breathe" - Rivers felt it was important the players had time after the Bucks' unprecedented strike to consider a route forward with their aims for social change.

"Just because something hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't happen," he explained. "Don't give into something that hasn't happened. Keep pushing, keep working.

"The key to this thing is that I think we all needed to take a breath. We needed a moment to breathe.

"It's not lost on me that George Floyd didn't get that moment. But we did, and we took it, and the players took it.

"And they got to refocus on the things that they wanted to focus on outside of their jobs.

"Then they voiced it, they organised it, they got it together, they understood they can't do everything on their own. We all need help to get things done. They went out and they got that help as well.

"The pride to be in the NBA is very high for me. I slept very well last night, thinking that our young people spoke. That was fantastic."

After losing four in a row, Philadelphia were more like their old selves in a 121-90 drubbing of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.

Simmons missed the string of losses due to what he described as "a viral thing", but he returned with six-of-eight shooting, four assists, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Rivers is convinced Simmons and Thybulle have a big role to play in paving the way for success this season.

"I don't think I've ever had that," Rivers said of the wing defence strength.

"I've had an incredibly great defensive team... but not at those positions. It's pretty awesome to watch. Those two guys, their closing ability on shots is excellent, absolutely remarkable to watch."

Simmons looked as good as new, according to Rivers.

"He had great energy, great pace. It was Ben being Ben," said the coach. "We lose a lot of pace when he's not on the floor, that's for sure."

As for Simmons, the 24-year-old All-Star welcomed his coach's words, saying: "That means a lot. [Thybulle] has got a high IQ on the floor and it's tough for teams to score when there's two guys like that on the floor."

Simmons added: "I'm just glad to be back. I missed being with the fellas. The energy was great tonight."

The Sixers sit second in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Brooklyn Nets.

"It's going to be on us to take care of business down the stretch," Simmons said. "We've got a lot of games that are going to be all-important at this stage.

"We're looking forward to the challenge and obviously we need to get in the playoffs. I'm glad I'm back now and we have a few games left to really get that first seeding and I think we can do it.

"If everyone's healthy and able to play, I think we're able to get that. Looking forward, we've got to take control and get that first seeding."

The Bucks snapped Atlanta's four-game winning streak with a 122-113 triumph as Antetokounmpo managed 36 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.

Antetokounmpo also made 12 of 16 free throws, with Rivers suggesting Milwaukee may overlook how much they rely on their star man.

"As I said, we take him for granted," Rivers said. "I thought he played as clean a game as he can play."

"I was really happy with the way we played overall because they did what they do, come out and make 3s."

Patrick Beverley scored 18 points as the fill-in starting point guard, despite concerns over his availability due to a wrist injury.

"He wanted to protect me, as a coach should," Beverley said of Rivers after playing 36 minutes and having five assists with no turnovers.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder acknowledged his team struggled to stop Antetokounmpo.

That plight was not aided by the fact Atlanta were missing Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson.

"It really does require multiple players to limit his ability to get to the rim," Snyder said.

The Sixers made it four wins on the bounce, all of which have been on the road, with Joel Embiid and James Harden playing key roles.

Embiid's 32 points made it the seventh game in a row he has reached at least 30, while Harden posted a triple-double of 16 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

The Sixers looked to be coasting at one stage, finding themselves 26 points to the good, but the Trail Blazers made life a little trickier towards the end.

Rivers' team got the job done as they improved to 29-16 in the East, behind only the Boston Celtic and Milwaukee Bucks, though he was certainly not completely satisfied.

He was particularly irritated by the Sixers' poor handling of the Trail Blazers' trapping, and he was not impressed by how spread out his players were.

Asked how they coped with respect to trapping, Rivers said: "Poorly, but we also took advantage of some of it as well.

"I didn't think trapping was that hard, our spacing was horrendous, and we're great at spacing most nights, but tonight we kept leaving two guys on the other end.

"I'm hoarse from yelling, just getting one to cut through and we basically didn't do it. We got away with three or four more than I thought they could've had. But that's easy to fix."

In letting Portland back into the contest somewhat in the second half, Rivers felt there was a hint of complacency in the Sixers' performance.

As such, he surmised they are still not at a stage where they can consider themselves anything more than a "good" team.

He added: "There's no lesson, the lesson is execute. I just thought we didn't.

"You get leads sometimes and they're hard, NBA leads shrink quickly and then you get complacent, and I think we did a little bit of that.

"But in that, one thing I like is we kept playing defense, and that's a good sign.

"I think we're good, and I think we can be really, really good. But we have work to do.

"We can't expect to come in and just show up and win, we have to go out and do something about it."

Nevertheless, with the likes of Embiid and Harden in their arsenal, the Sixers have the kind of star quality that can drag them through the mud even when they are not at their optimal level as a unit.

That is not lost on Embiid.

"I think from the beginning it was easy," he said of linking up with Harden, who joined from the Brooklyn Nets last February.

"When you've got two guys with high basketball IQs, you can figure it out everything easy.

"So, it's all about just playing off of each other. We've been doing a wonderful job of doing that."

The 76ers went into the game leading the Eastern Conference at 8-3 despite being without Joel Embiid, Matisse Thybulle, Isaiah Joe and Tobias Harris due to COVID-19, with Ben Simmons also still unavailable.

Curry was pulled out of the 76ers side for the game shortly before tipoff with a left foot contusion.

"I don’t know," Rivers told reporters about Curry's injury after the game. "I literally thought he was gonna play and then late, you could hear the language, it didn’t sound like he was gonna play.

"We start adjusting pretty quickly after that. I’m not even sure what it is. I think it’s his toe, but I’m not sure."

Guard Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points, with five rebounds and four assists, while center Andre Drummond had 17 points along with 20 rebounds, but the 76ers missed their stars.

Rivers had indicated pre-game that Harris may be the closest to returning of the quartet who had entered the league's health and safety protocol.

"All the other guys are still where they're at. I would say just talking to Tobias, he's the one guy who'll be back sooner than later," Rivers said.

Rivers was impressed that the decimated 76ers, who also lost to the New York Knicks on Monday, were in the hunt against the reigning champions before a 27-16 fourth quarter.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win the game in both and there’s something to be taken from that so we do learn a lot," Rivers said. "But we didn’t win the games. That’s a fact.

"We had chances. It’s an opportunity to grow, an opportunity to get better, I’m not down about the loss. You either do one of two things in a competition. You either win the game or you lose the game. Period.”

Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Cup, in part, thanks to their defensive display, and Doc Rivers has full confidence in his team this season.

The Nets led Game 2 at Wells Fargo Center on Monday by five points at half-time and Rivers decided just over a minute into the third quarter it was time for him to unleash some verbal volleys.

Sixers head coach Rivers' intervention sparked his side into life and they went on to win 96-84.

Tyrese Maxey top scored with 33 points, including six three-pointers, while Joel Embiid finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.

Tobias Harris also weighed in with 20 points and 12 rebounds as Philadelphia took command of the first-round series before travelling to New York for Game 3 on Thursday.

Asked what Rivers said during a huddle early in the third quarter, James Harden said: "Cursing us out. That's it. Just cursing us out.

"The first possession, we didn't run a play that he drew up, for whatever reason. But we got it right."

Rivers felt the Sixers made life difficult for themselves before raising their game to dominate the second half.

"We got guys to the right space," Rivers said. "Joel was patient. James was patient. We moved the ball, we got every shot we wanted.

"That was a hard game, because we got outside of ourselves in the first half. I thought we were forcing it. We were trying, nothing selfish, but we're trying to score all of us, instead of being there giving you the answers with their traps. Trust your stuff, trust your spacing, move the ball and the right guys are going to end up with the ball.

"And if we do it enough, eventually, Joel, you're gonna get one-on-ones, and then you're going to dominate the game. And I thought we did that in the second half."

Cam Johnson led the Nets with 28 points but they were unable to level the series.

The Sixers were 127-112 winners against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, with Simmons' 29th career triple-double leading the way.

The 24-year-old, who made the All-Defensive First Team in 2020, also had had a block and a steal to go with his 15 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds, of which 11 were on the defensive end.

Team-mate Embiid - twice selected to the All-Defensive Second Team - balanced his 19 points with 11 defensive rebounds, a steal and an assist, too.

Green said of the pair after Philly moved to 5-1 at the top of the East: "They can be monstrous for us defensively.

"I think they have the potential, both of them, to be Defensive Player of the Year with their size, ability, reflexes, their footwork."

Coach Doc Rivers was on the same page, too, adding: "Ben has been, in my opinion, as good as anyone in the league defensively.

"Then having Joel to back him up, that combination defensively allows you to do a lot of things that you probably wouldn't do when you have the size of those two guys."

But the Sixers' two star names were not the only players contributing on both ends of the floor against Charlotte.

Tobias Harris was particularly impressive in a dominant display that led his team in scoring with 24 points but also included nine rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks.

Six games into the season, Harris is averaging career highs in rebounds (8.5), assists (3.2, same as 2019-20), steals (1.5) and blocks (1.5), and Simmons has noted the improvement.

"On both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, he's been amazing," he said. "He's been an amazing factor for our team and he's going to be if we want to win a championship."

Simmons added: "We've got a good group, the chemistry's good off the floor. It makes it even better when you're winning, playing the right way, sharing the ball.

"Guys aren't worried about who's scoring the ball, as long as we're scoring and winning games.

"That's what it's all about for us. Our goal is to win a championship, and to do that, we need everybody."

Simmons – who has demanded a trade – was suspended for Wednesday's NBA season-opening win over the New Orleans Pelicans due to "conduct detrimental to the team" following reports he was ejected from practice after Rivers grew frustrated with his lack of engagement.

The Australian has also been ruled out of Friday's showdown with star-studded Eastern Conference rivals the Brooklyn Nets at Wells Fargo Center.

Reports of a meeting between Simmons, Rivers and his team-mates emerged on Friday, with ESPN claiming the former number one pick was not mentally ready to play and needed time to step away.

Speaking afterwards and prior to tip-off against the Nets, Rivers told reporters: "I felt good up and down throughout and I kept saying that, things do change.

"That still doesn't mean it's gonna work out perfect or it could, but I always believed that. I've never wavered from that. I've said that 100 times and I still stick with it."

Rivers added: "It was a productive day, but it's a start. That's the only way you can get going, you gotta start, and today was a start."

Simmons – an elite defender who signed a five-year, $177.2million contract extension in 2019 – and his shooting problems were laid bare during the 2021 postseason with the top-seeded 76ers, who were eliminated in the semi-finals.

The 25-year-old had no fourth-quarter field-goal attempts in his last four games of the playoffs against the Hawks last season. He is the only NBA player in the last 20 seasons to have four consecutive postseason games with no field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter during a season in which he was an All-Star, according to Stats Perform.

Simmons averaged just 10.1 field-goal attempts in 2020-21 – a career low, which dropped to 7.9 in the playoffs. It was the same story with his scoring as it dropped to a career-worst 14.3 points per game and 11.9 in the postseason – both career lows.

Then there is Simmons and free throws. He was exposed by rival teams as they regularly sent him to the line, with the Melbourne-born guard making just 25 of 73 shots in the 2020-21 playoffs. His 34.2 free-throw percentage is the lowest ever in a single postseason.

"He is part of the team," he continued. "We have certain rules, obviously, the other day, that didn't happen, but today was a good day.

"Most people, we look at problems instead of the possibilities and I think if we focus on the possibilities, just in life in general, you have a pretty good chance of going to a good place. If you focus on the problems, you're probably gonna continue to have problems."

Including the playoffs, Philadelphia are 9-2 in their last 11 games against the Nets. Additionally, the 76ers have six straight home wins in the series, starting with Game 2 of the first round of the 2019 postseason.

Four Philadelphia players scored 20-plus points against New Orleans, with Joel Embiid and Furkan Korkmaz each having 22 and Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey finishing with 20. The 76ers had zero games last season with four 20-plus point scorers, according to Stats Perform.

Simmons demanded a trade following last season and remained absent from Philadelphia for the first two weeks of preseason work before showing up on October 11 to begin fulfilling COVID-19 protocols that would allow him to re-join the championship-chasing franchise.

The 76ers open their 2021-22 campaign at the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday but head coach Doc Rivers said he does not know whether All-Star Simmons will be available. 

"I'm going to wait and see," Rivers told reporters. "Conditioning I would say, just watching him, I thought he was in decent shape. Still not, obviously, game shape."

The 76ers will play their home opener against Eastern Conference rivals the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, and the Australian guard – scrutinised after the team's shock Eastern Conference semi-final loss to the Atlanta Hawks – figures to get an unfriendly welcome from the Philadelphia crowd whether he plays or not. 

Perhaps with that dynamic in mind, Rivers was asked whether he had thought about whether to give Simmons his season debut at home or on the road, but he demurred. 

"No – right now I'm just trying to get him back comfortable and integrated. I'm not even thinking about that," Rivers said. "That'll come at some point but there's no game plan there, I can tell you that. When he's ready, he'll play."

Simmons did not speak to reporters Sunday but team officials indicated he would later this week. 

The number one overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft has averaged 15.9 points, 8.1. rebounds and 7.7 assists in four seasons with Philadelphia and has been named to the All-Star Game the last three years. 

But the 25-year-old's struggles in the playoffs and a contract that will pay him $33million this season with three years and $114m remaining on his deal after that have made it difficult for the 76ers to find a trade partner. 

Getting Simmons back on the court could help in that endeavour, though it appears he may have to work to do to smooth things over with his team-mates. 

While guard Furkan Korkmaz told reporters he had missed Simmons and "personally I'm happy to see him back here on the court," forward Tobias Harris declined to get into specifics about an awkward reunion but added that it would not matter once games begin.

"The vibe was what it was," Harris said. "Was it perfect? No. But we're here to do a job, and that's to win basketball games. We put on our big boy pants and get on the floor and do what we do."

Simmons – an elite defender – and his shooting problems were laid bare during the 2021 postseason with the top-seeded 76ers.

Former number one draft pick Simmons had no fourth-quarter field-goal attempts in his last four games of the playoffs last season. He is the only NBA player in the last 20 seasons to have four consecutive postseason games with no field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter during a season in which he was an All-Star, according to Stats Perform.

Simmons averaged just 10.1 field-goal attempts in 2020-21 – a career low, which dropped to 7.9 in the playoffs. It was the same story with his scoring as it dropped to a career-worst 14.3 points per game and 11.9 in the postseason – both career lows.

Then there is Simmons and free throws. He was exposed by rival teams as they regularly sent him to the line, with the Melbourne-born guard making just 25 of 73 shots in the 2020-21 playoffs. His 34.2 free-throw percentage is the lowest ever in a single postseason.

The 76ers stayed perfect with their second win from two games thanks to Saturday's 109-89 victory against the Knicks in New York.

Joel Embiid fuelled the 76ers – eyeing a first title since 1983 – with a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds, while All-Star team-mate Simmons had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Discussing the game, Simmons – the subject of trade speculation involving Houston Rockets star James Harden – said: "At one point it felt like the Harlem Globetrotters, we were passing the ball so much and moving it."

"We got the lead, lost the lead a little bit, but I think it was just our mentality, knowing we had to step up," Simmons said. "We have to hold each other accountable defensively and offensively. … We've got to play at a high level every night. We can't take breaks with anybody, especially with teams that we should beat."

76ers head coach Rivers, who replaced Brett Brown in the offseason, also earned his 945th regular-season victory to move 10th all-time in NBA history, surpassing Bill Fitch.

Simmons added: "He believes in us. He believes in everybody's ability. He's not going to lie to you and tell you to do things you can't do. For me, he tells me certain things. Like tonight, an example would be, 'Be assertive. Keep being aggressive. Attack the rim'.

"When I'm doing that, he's giving me praise and letting me know I'm doing a good job. And that just gives me more confidence to keep doing it, getting to the rim and making plays for my team-mates.

"But also, on the other side, he's going to keep it real with you. If there's a thing you need to work on, things that he sees out there that you might not see, he's going to let you know. That's all about just helping each other get better. And he's doing that with everybody, which is great."

Rivers also praised Simmons, who nullified the impact of Knicks star RJ Barrett at Madison Square Garden.

Barrett was just two-of-15 shooting from the field, while he missed all six of his three-point attempts, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in a team-high 37 minutes.

"Ben, he's got so many skills," Rivers said. "And we're trying to get them all out of him. I thought defensively, he was terrific. He used his size, his length. His instincts are unbelievable, something I didn't know until now coaching him.

"And then on the other end, I thought with the pace that he played and forced actions — we got threes just because Ben Simmons pushed the ball up the floor, created actions in the paint and kicked out to guys. I thought he was terrific tonight."