Doc Rivers Sends Message to Sixers Prior to All-Star Break

Ahead of the All-Star break, Doc Rivers gave a message to his team following their run of recent success.

On Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers played their final game ahead of the upcoming All-Star break against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The matchup wasn't initially close, but that was before the Sixers blew their lead, which built up after two periods of solid basketball, scoring 63 points on 48 percent shooting.

Their second-half tumble didn't even come down to their offense performing worse, shooting an improved 53 percent in the final half, rather their defense struggling to cover Cleveland's stars.

When asked about the Sixers' blown lead, head coach Doc Rivers put it up to the team already being in All-Star break mode.

Apart from Joel Embiid and Mac McClung, the rest of Philadelphia's team will get a team break before coming back to take on the Western Conference-contending Memphis Grizzlies.

At full-time, Rivers gave his team a simple message: Get your rest, explaining that some of his players need the rest while others need to keep training.

"We know what we want to do, they don't need a message," explained Rivers. "Some of them need to ramp down, and others need to keep working. Just get your rest, be healthy, be safe, Don't call me," he joked.

Philadelphia goes into the break after a rocky first half which saw them going from a 1-4 record across their first five games and serious injuries to James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, to being within three games of the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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