By Dan Gelston
PHILADELPHIA — Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points and the Philadelphia 76ers tuned up for the play-in tournament with a 126-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night in what appeared to be Hall of Fame coach Doc Rivers’ final game.
The seventh-seeded 76ers host No. 8 seed Orlando in a play-in game Wednesday, thanks to Boston defeating the Magic to give the 76ers home-court advantage.
After the game, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Rivers was not expected back as Milwaukee’s coach. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement about Rivers’ decision has been made.
The Bucks played without All-Star and former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the 76ers were without Joel Embiid after he was stricken last week with appendicitis.
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks could be headed toward a separation in the offseason after a tumultuous season limited him to 27.6 points and 9.8 rebounds in 36 games this season, by far the fewest games of his 13-year career.
Coach Nick Nurse had no health update on Embiid, yet the timeline for recovery on an appendectomy would surely rule him out of any early postseason play. Embiid has been limited to 38 games this season, with the former MVP and two-time scoring champion sitting out primarily to manage injuries to his knees.
AJ Green set the team’s single-season record for 3’s. Green scored 19 points and made five 3s to push his total to 232 and pass Ray Allen, who had 229 in 2001-02.
Sixers fan loudly booed Rivers — who coached the team for three seasons — even as he was recognized by public address announcer Matt Cord for making the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Cord, with one of the more recognizable voices in all of Philadelphia sports, called his final regular-season game after 28 seasons on the mic.
The 64-year-old Rivers said before the game his final answer on retirement will come “definitely sooner” rather than later in the offseason. Rivers is going into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame this summer. Only Gregg Popovich, Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan and Pat Riley have more coaching wins than Rivers.