East Notes: Sixers, James Harden, Wizards, Nets

76ers 

Star guard James Harden sat out Wednesday’s win over the Bulls with Achilles soreness, but it doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue, coach Doc Rivers told reporters.

“No concerns,” Rivers said, via Jamaal Collier of ESPN. “It just flared up a couple times and we decided instead of doing the back-and-forth, the dance, let’s just sit him down, get him rest and make sure he’s right.”

Basically, Philadelphia just doesn’t want to take any chances with the postseason around the corner.

• The Sixers are about to embark on a three-game swing through the West — with visits to the Warriors, Suns and Nuggets looming.
• Assistant coach Sam Cassell has decided to stay with the 76ers, as opposed to pursuing the coaching vacancy at Temple, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Wizards

The Wizards have lost four straight at the worst possible time, including a home loss to the Nuggets on Wednesday.

At this writing, Washington (32-41) sat in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, three games behind the Bulls for the final play-in spot. 

Against the Nuggets, the Wizards shot a season-worst 4-of-26 on 3-pointers. Overall, they have lost seven of eight and nine of 11.

Star guard Bradley Beal missed the game with left knee soreness, but recently said that the Wizards just have to “be better.”

“We know that. It’s not rocket science. It’s not a secret,” Beal said, via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. “We got … 10 left? We’ve got to push the last 10.”

• Beal is considered day-to-day with the injury, coach Wes Unseld Jr. told reporters.
• The Wizards next host the Spurs on Friday, so presumably, they can use that game to get going, They basically have no choice at this point.

Nets

Coach Jacque Vaughn admitted the Nets will have to do a better job of rebounding if they hope to not back into the playoffs and have any chance at all while there.

“Yeah, we have to accept it. It’s truth. It’s staring us in the face,” Vaughn said, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “The scouting report says to try to go offensive rebound versus the Nets, and we have to understand that and really do a diligent job of continuing to try and do it together.

“We can’t do it with two people, with three people. We show clips where literally we need all five people to come back and get a piece of somebody.”

Forward Mikal Bridges agreed.

“Personally I’ve got to be better; but as a team as well,” Bridges said, via Lewis. “We’ve just gotta gang rebound and help each other. It’s just effort and the mentality to go get the rebound. You’re going in there and sticking your nose in there so just the mentality to go in there.”

• The Cavaliers are “privately hoping for a Brooklyn matchup” in the first round of the playoffs, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “The season is almost coming to an end, and everybody is trying to make their push for the final playoff spots, so we’ve got to figure it out real quick, figure it out early, because we had time early in the year to mess around, figure out stuff,” guard Cam Thomas said, via Lewis.