When the Philadelphia 76ers visit the Brooklyn Nets for their second game of the preseason, they'll be down a handful of players due to injuries.
The veteran center Ariel Hukporti is the latest to suffer a setback, after going down with a devastating Achilles tear in the first game against the New York Knicks on Monday night.
With a season-ending injury occurring just a few minutes into the preseason, one might assume the Sixers are going to pump the brakes on playing their stars. Why risk their health for a game that won't count for anything?
It's a valid question--and one the Sixers won't ignore--but it doesn't seem to have Nick Nurse and his staff approaching the remainder of the schedule with extreme caution. Not only did the head coach address the mindset of the staff after watching Hukporti go down, but noted that Thursday's game could feature "the majority" of their players in Brooklyn.
Nick Nurse questions the rest method
"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."
The keyword for Nurse and the 76ers is "cautious." Every team has to take that cautious approach, and it should probably be on a player-to-player basis. If guys are healthy, they should suit up. If not, then it's totally up to the medical staff to decide. During the preseason, there shouldn't be any gambles. It should be either totally healthy or rest.
Get them on the court as much as possible
Some things are inevitable when it comes to the 76ers. Joel Embiid is going to miss action. LeBron James too. While Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe, and Tyrese Maxey might be able to squeeze out more games, you truly can't bank everything on having this talented starting five on the court a ton, so you take the opportunities when you can get them.
If everybody there mentioned has been fully healthy through the start of camp, then fear of injury shouldn't prevent the Sixers from rolling them out, even for a limited time, during the preseason.
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