Just 11 games into the 2020-21 season and it has already been quite a long campaign for the Philadelphia 76ers. Health has been the main issue for the season thus far and, coming into their Monday evening match against the Atlanta Hawks, it was pretty much the same case for the Sixers who only had nine healthy bodies in the lineup.

Head coach Doc Rivers knows how challenging the situation is. In fact, the 59-year-old tactician said his team has no choice but to show up and try to get some wins despite being undermanned.

“No one is going to feel sorry for us,” Doc Rivers said after the Sixers' loss, via ESPN. “We’ve got to try to win these games. We’ve in a tough spot with COVID. … I have a sneaking feeling a lot of teams are going to have this problem.”

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The Sixers' nine-man unit was already one more than the previous lineup they were able to field against the Denver Nuggets at home. Only seven of the eight players available against the Nuggets played since Mike Scott was still out due to a knee issue. The team had no choice but to put Scott in a uniform to meet the league's minimum requirement of eight players.

On Monday, Scott returned to the roster, and the addition of All-Star Joel Embiid helped the Sixers field enough players against the Hawks. Embiid's return wasn't enough though, as Atlanta took full advantage en route to an 18-point blowout.

Ben Simmons (sore knee) was still out alongside Seth Curry, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Due to the league's contact tracing protocols, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirer were all in quarantine. So far, the league has chosen to postpone a few games due to COVID, but unfortunately for Philly, they've had to play all their games so far as short-handed as they are.