Practice notebook: Sixers' spirits high ahead of opening week

Editor’s note: Sunday notebook and feature will be available to paid subscribers only starting with the regular season. Subscribe now to make sure you don’t miss a moment.

CAMDEN, N.J. — Some seven miles away from where the Philadelphia Eagles are stuck 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage and in danger of burning another first-half possession, the Sixers are existing in a completely different world.

You might’ve been drowning your sorrows on a Fall Sunday afternoon as another Tanner McKee pass sailed over his target’s head. The Sixers are finishing practice in high spirits. V.J. Edgecombe is chucking up contested fadeaways from the corner., and missing them. The in-house DJ teases every miss, offering a new sound effect for each errant ball.

Joel Embiid is the last Sixer on the floor, absorbing lessons from new assistant coach Phil Handy and implementing the feedback on post-ups. After Embiid is done, a grin takes over his face as he talks with Sixers staffers.

Always the best barometer of how the Sixers star is truly feeling, physically and emotionally.

Jaylen Brown is wrapping up his work for the day, running at varying speeds from one baseline to its opposite and back.

He’s donning black flip-flop slides, black and red shorts, and a black sweatshirt. He joins the circle of personnel congregating on the court, and he and Embiid share a laugh before the new Sixers forward walks out a side door and into the light of day.

It’s anyone’s best guess as to whether the Sixers will have an adequate sense of who they are by tip-off on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden. But they conduct themselves with this unmistakable confidence that they’ve built the foundation needed to prove themselves to anyone and everyone.

“It’s certainly going to be great. We’re looking forward to it. It’s a great rivalry now, for sure. I mean, it has been for a long time, but right now, it’s kind of currently heating up a little bit,” Nick Nurse told reporters at Sunday’s practice.

“It’s certainly a tremendous test for us, and we’ll see. I think my biggest thing is I understand that they’ve been together forever and there’s kind of little pet things that they can do that add up. I just kind of want to see where our compete level is when the ball goes up for real. That’s the most interesting thing for me.”

Two years ago, with Embiid’s knee in a miserable place and Paul George playing occasionally as he battled injuries of his own, the Sixers approached the season with the idea that they’d constructed a roster good enough to play the regular season on autopilot. They were eager to take a swing at the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers by way of the Play-In tournament. That was all well and good until it became obvious that the lack of preparation caught up with them, and their season was quickly headed nowhere.

Now, you walk into the gym, and the star who became an afterthought after the signing of James is holding himself to account for everyone to see, preparing his body for a grueling journey that starts this week.

Dean Wade exited Friday’s preseason finale with a rolled ankle. At the time, Nurse told reporters he did not return to the game for precautionary reasons.

Almost two days later, Wade was not a participant at Sunday’s practice. He had not received an MRI as of Sunday afternoon, but the Sixers will hope for progress going into Monday’s practice and go from there.

Any concern about Edgecombe, who was held out of the preseason finale, dissipated as soon as the door opened to media. He could be seen, in full practice attire, exchanging trade secrets with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

He was a full participant in Sunday’s activities. Nurse believes he’s on track to play in the season opener.

“He didn’t play in the game the other night. He woke up a little sore, so we held him out of the game kind of out of kind of caution. But he was in today. In practice today,” Nurse said.

Dominick Barlow also did not participate in practice. He (back) and Anfernee Simons (hamstring) never suited up for the blue and white scrimmage or preseason games, although Simons has returned to practice in recent days.

Tacko Fall, converted to a two-way contract on Saturday, did an individualized workout.

“[I] did get to see a good chunk of him prior to kind of the injury. How I plan on using him probaby remains to be seen. But kind of was intrigued and liked what I saw in the fall, so we’ll see what happens,” Nurse said.

But this represents a meaningful moment for the 7-foot-6 big man, who had to do some soul-searching in his time away from the NBA.

“I was a little speechless, to be honest. Like I said, I've had quite a few challenges since I left, and when you get that, after all these years and after all the hard work, I think it means a lot more, for sure,” Fall told reporters on Sunday.

“I'm excited to be back. I feel like this is a great opportunity, and with the things that I can do, I believe that I can really help this team. And for me, whatever they need me to go out there and do, I'm going to do, come in with great energy and just do what I can do to help.”

The Sixers’ backup center rotation has become a fascinating storyline in wake of Ariel Hukporti’s season-ending achilles injury. Adem Bona is getting back into the swing of things after spraining his foot before training camp opened.

It sounds like there’s a possibility he’s available for the season opener.

If not, is Fall advanced enough in his recovery from a left hip strain?

If the answer to that is no, Nurse is fully prepared to go with Jabari Walker—who had an excellent preseason—as a center.

“I think I told you guys the other day, we were going through some stuff and I'm just got him at the five spotter and all these actions were running and he said, ‘Can I do some at the four?’. I said, ‘Absolutely not. We need you at the five right now. Just stay right there and keep doing what we're doing.' So I think it's been beneficial for both us and him to see him get a lot of minutes,” Nurse said.

“And he’s played very well.”