Doc Rivers insists Joel Embiid is healthy, ‘good’ physically despite blowout loss in Game 2

“He looked good, and his numbers were great,” Rivers said, . “We didn’t play well, but just the speed that he reached, you know, his explosions, they were very close to normal. So that was great for us to see.

“And, more importantly, great for him to be able to do it and see that he can do it, and then have very little swelling or anything like that. So that’s what we needed to find out. Obviously we didn’t win the game. But that’s important for us.”

“I was supposed to be out for 4-6 weeks or something like that, so I’m not going to be 100% or fully healed for that whole time,” Embiid . “I’m going to keep playing through anything. We’ve got a big chance, and I’ve got to take advantage of it.”

“It’s not that hard,” Rivers said, . “We’re making too much of it. We really are. I mean, should we just play different the rest of the year now, or should we play the way we played all year? You know what I mean? This is not rocket science. And it’s not that hard to do.

“We didn’t play well. I thought their ball pressure took us out of everything. It wouldn’t have mattered if Joel was there or not. We would have had a tough offensive night, you know, with the way we allowed them to play inside of us. They pushed us all around. They rolled us off of spots. We couldn’t get organized because of their pressure. So we’ll be better.”