NEW YORK — Doc Rivers made no attempts to skirt around the meaninglessness of the 76ers’ regular-season finale against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m just trying to get to see the end of the Masters,” the coach said during his pregame media availability.
These teams entered the matchup already locked into a first-round playoff series beginning next weekend in Philly. So the Sixers sat their top seven players. Nets’ standout Mikal Bridges played exactly one second, solely to keep his streak of never missing an NBA game alive. Yet a balanced scoring attack from the Sixers who were available to play Sunday paced a 134-105 victory at the Barclays Center to finish with a 54-28 record.
Shake Milton (20 points, eight assists) and Paul Reed (17 points, 10 rebounds), two players expected to be in the rotation for at least part of the postseason, anchored the Sixers Sunday. But it was a big afternoon for both of the team’s players on a two-way contract. Mac McClung, the NBA Slam Dunk champion, narrowly missed a triple-double with 20 points (including getting free for a first-quarter transition jam), nine assists and nine rebounds. Louis King, meanwhile, also had 20 points and added four rebounds in his Sixers debut.
Those contributions capped a whirlwind week for McClung and King, who helped the Delaware Blue Coats win the G League championship on Thursday night before joining the Sixers in time for Friday’s overtime win at the Atlanta Hawks.
“It’s like I haven’t stopped,” McClung said. “I’ve just been running around here to there and just kind of trusting the universe and trying to be my best me every day. ... I always knew [I could play at this level]. But also just for it to happen is such a big confidence-builder, and hopefully I can just keep building from it.”
Dewayne Dedmon (14 points, seven rebounds, four assists), Montrezl Harrell (15 points, six rebounds) and Furkan Korkmaz (11 points, four rebounds) also finished in double figures for the Sixers. Second-year guard Jaden Springer, a standout in Friday’s win in Atlanta after starring in the G League Finals, only played two minutes because of discomfort in the right ankle he sprained while with the Blue Coats.
“I still wanted to go out there and give it a try,” Springer said. “But after that, I feel like I just need to take care of it. It was lingering.”
That collective effort from the Sixers countered the impressive individual performance from the Nets’ Cam Thomas, who scored 46 points on 16-of-29 shooting including 6-of-8 from long range. But the Sixers turned up their defense late, doubling Thomas and pick him up full-court to prevent him from reaching 50.
“One of our coaches said, ‘Are you good with that?’” Rivers said. “I said, ‘Eh, why not?’ Guys are prideful. I like that. We went into our playoff ‘prevent’ defense.”
The Sixers led by as many as 20 points in the first half, when Milton converted a layup that made the score 43-23 less than two minutes into the second period. That advantage dwindled to 100-94 early in the fourth quarter, before McClung hit back-to-back three-pointers to spark a 34-11 run to finish the game at a 29-point margin.
Now, the playoffs await. At least part of the Sixers-Nets playoff series schedule is expected to be revealed later Sunday.
King excels in debut
Rivers said before Sunday’s game that he wanted to make sure to find minutes for Louis King, the only available Sixer to not play Friday in Atlanta. And King took advantage of the opportunity, making eight of his 13 field-goal attempts (4-of-8 from three-point range) and adding three rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes.
He buried a three-pointer shortly after entering the game late in the first quarter, then made a floater on the Sixers’ next possession. He then started the second half in place of Springer, hitting two three-pointers before getting behind the defense for an and-1 transition layup and sinking a pull-up jumper. Then, in the final seconds of the third quarter, he nailed an off-the-dribble three-pointer. Rivers also praised the way King executed a few unfamiliar plays out of timeouts, “which tells you he’s got a little bit of feel” for the game.
“I just felt like I’ve been comfortable throughout my years and with my spots on the floor,” King said. “It’s easy once I just get going. … Our work’s been leading up to this all year. To finally get an opportunity at the end of the season, right after a good championship run, it’s just God’s plan.”
King, who had previously played in 26 career NBA games with the Sacramento Kings and Detroit Pistons, signed a two-way contract with the Sixers in late December.
Zero hands tipped
Before Sunday’s game, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said his team’s offense would be “bland” and “simple” against the Sixers. That was apparent for both teams, whose play took on a pick-up style.
That was because of the unconventional personnel on the floor. But there also was no incentive to show or work on any plays or schemes, given the looming playoff matchup. Though Rivers downplayed the resistance to put more material on film for the Nets’ playoff preparation, he said they did not run as many plays out of timeouts.
An indicator of the choppy play and bizarre lineups: The Sixers and Nets combined for 32 turnovers that led to 47 points.
“We ran our stuff,” Rivers said. “We’re going to run it on [Saturday or Sunday], whenever we play them. There’s not a lot of tricks anymore.”
